The sojourner
by qano
Summary: A young struggling adult male travels to worlds of different dimensions for uncertain reasons. He first travels to the Digital World where he must do all that he can to stop a terrible catastrophe that will threaten the existence of not just the Real and Digital World, but every world that exists.
1. Chapter 1: Into the Digital World

**Author's Notes** :

I just wanted to point out several things before I begin this story, so please read this as it may help with understanding how the story will proceed.

1\. This is the very first story that I've uploaded online, so the development of the story may not be smooth.

2\. This story is intended to be part of a series that I plan to write in the future. Although this act/arc prominently features Digimon and the Digital World, future acts/arcs will be completely unrelated to Digimon.

3\. As a side note (and somewhat of a spoiler), there are a few concepts in this story similar to the ones in Digimon Tri, but I came up with the idea before Digimon Tri came out.

4\. This story is heavily influenced by Digimon Adventure and somewhat by Digimon Adventure 02 and a bit by Digimon Savers.

5\. There are NO fictional characters from the original Digimon franchise (No Taichi, Yamato, Sora, Daisuke, Ken, Takato, Ruki etc).

6\. Any Digimon appearing in the story is not meant to have any relation to the original Digimon that appear in any of the anime series

(for example, any Agumon appearing in this story is not meant to represent any Agumon in any of the anime series).

7\. This story is actually the 2nd act/arc of my intended series, so I will give a brief summary of what happens in the 1st act/arc (I didn't actually write the 1st act/arc yet, but I know how it will turn out).

* * *

 **Prologue** :

Tyson Baek, a young male adult, has just gone into winter vacation after he finished his fourth semester of college. Completely dissatisfied with his life, he is suddenly transported one night to a strange place called Limbo, a space that isn't governed by the natural laws of the universe. There, he meets a man named Flint, a manifestation of an imaginary figure from his childhood, who explains that he has been selected to travel worlds of different dimensions for uncertain reasons. In order to survive his future journeys, Flint trains Tyson for 1 year before Tyson is sent to his first world as a prelude in order to gain some experience before the real journey begins.

* * *

I blinked and took a look around my surroundings. At first, I thought I was in a forest of some sort when I saw some trees and bushes, but I realized quickly that the vegetation around me were arranged in an orderly manner. The grass around me was cut evenly and not a single bit of overgrown vegetation could be seen. What was more, as I started walking forward, I could see what appeared to be benches, pavement and metal posts aligned on the sides of the pavement. Finally, I saw the inhabitants of this world. They were human.

I breathed out in relief. I wasn't stranded in some crazy mysterious world like Flint had warned me about. It seemed like I was in a world very similar to mine. Perhaps it was exactly like mine. Upon closer look, the objects that I had presumed to be benches were in fact, benches and the metal posts on the pavements were really streetlights. There were people walking about, some chatting to each other while others were sitting on the grass, having a picnic of sorts. Some people were walking their dogs and others were playing with footballs. From what was going around me, I determined that I was in a park. I shook my head, somewhat embarrassed at myself.

'Benches…Of course they're benches, what else could they be you idiot. And metal posts? Come on, it's not like you've never seen streetlights before! Or did spending a mere one year in Limbo make you forget about your world completely?'

Berating myself silently, I walked on, unsure of where to go or what to do. Flint had told me that finding out what I was supposed to do would probably take some time. I just had to keep looking for whatever clues I could find and rely on luck. I decided to leave the park and take a look around the city, if I was in a city, to see exactly what kind of world I was in.

I looked around in wonder as I waited in front of a stoplight with other people, amazed at the close resemblance this world had with mine.

'Honestly, if I didn't know any better, I would've thought that I came back home,' I thought as I crossed the road when the light turned green. I walked past a few buildings before I stopped. I was staring at a sign attached to the shop I stood in front of. The sign was written in Japanese.

I sighed as I closed my eyes and lowered my head. This was not going to be easy.

'Great…I'm in Japan. Why couldn't I be in some place where people spoke English? Well, at least this confirms one thing. Japan exists in this world,' I thought gloomily as I started to walk again. At least I had recognized that the sign was in Japanese. If I hadn't taken a semester of Japanese in college, I might've even confused the Kanji and Hiragana for Chinese.

I walked a couple more blocks before I decided to sit down on a bench that was on the sidewalk. A lady looking to be in her mid-thirties was reading a newspaper at the other end of the bench. I gazed up at the tall buildings in front of me. Just how was I supposed to find out my role in this world? I glanced at the newspaper the lady was reading and was about to turn my gaze away when something caught my eye. The numbers 1999, 4, and 18 had caught my attention. I leaned forward to make sure that I had seen correctly and sure enough, the Kanji for year, month and day were beside the respective numbers. I jumped in surprise and quickly leaned back when the lady put down the newspaper and looked at me with an odd expression.

"Gomennasai!" I apologized quickly using what little knowledge of Japanese I had and left the bench hastily. When I had walked far away from the bench, I slowed my pace as I sighed to myself again. I was in a different time period in a foreign country.

'Duh! Why didn't I realize it sooner? People around me aren't using smartphones. In fact, I bet not one person in this city uses a smartphone. Some of them even seem to be using portable CD players. Seriously, am I this dull as to not notice these details around me?' I criticized myself harshly as I walked on.

'Calm down. This is the first time I've been in a different world, let alone a different time period. Of course I'm bound to miss things. It's not like I've been travelling between worlds my whole life. Now, let's think. Where can I go? Who should I go to for help? Is there anyone who can understand English?'

As I listed the possible things I could do to help determine my next move, I couldn't help but notice that some shops I had been passing by were closed. I stood in front of a closed shop and looked at the sign that hung on the door. I couldn't understand it, but the Kanji for Sunday stuck out to me.

'Wait, Sunday? Let me guess…Today's a Sunday, so it's a rest day for this shop. Which also means that some other places will be taking the day off as well. That also explains why I saw a lot of people at this time of the day at the park. Huh…Hold on. My possibilities of finding help just got way closer to zero. If I'm to find someone who can act as a translator for me, they're mostly going to take the day off today. Oh my gosh…What am I supposed to do now?' I sighed for the third time and covered my face with my hand.

After a brief moment, I made my way back to where I first found myself; the public park. I sat down on a bench and idly observed the scenery before me. People chatting, kids kicking balls, dogs barking…It was an average day for any average person.

'And here I am, wondering what I'm supposed to do. Why am I really here? This place doesn't look like it's going to blow up any time soon. Maybe a political group is secretly planning a coup d'etat? Or a terrorist group is planning to blow up a national landmark? Maybe even World War Three? Or…' I let my imagination run wild as I slowly began to doze off.

* * *

I woke up with a start and looked around quickly, momentarily forgetting where I was. I soon remembered that I was in the public park and realized that I had been drooling while I was sleeping. As I wiped the spit from my chin in disgust, I noticed that there were barely any people in the park. The day was slowly ending as the light from the sun began to fade.

I sighed.

'Where am I going to sleep tonight? In a motel? I don't even have money! Maybe I could sleep on the bench tonight if no one minds…'

My stomach growled, reminding me that I hadn't eaten for the whole day. I sighed again. Nothing seemed to work out. Something glinted in the distance. I sat up straight and squinted my eyes to see where it came from. The glint seemed to come from a bed of flowers not far from where I sat. I approached the flower bed, curious and at the same time, wondering why I would be curious at all.

'Well, who knows. This might turn out to be the clue I've been looking for all day, whatever that clue is,' I thought sarcastically as I bent down in front of the flowers.

I looked closely at the glinting object and gasped. The object was a flower, but it wasn't an ordinary flower. It seemed…pixelated, as if looking at an image of a flower at a very low resolution on a computer screen. What was more, the pixels were moving around, as though alive.

I looked around me. No one was around the vicinity.

'Should I go tell someone about this? Maybe this isn't a strange phenomenon in this world. After all, I can't assume everything here is exactly like my world. Besides, what if this…whatever this is disappears when I go look for someone? This could actually be the clue I've been looking for, maybe my only clue!'

I glanced anxiously at the pixelated flower. The pixels continued to move in a strangely organic manner, as if beckoning to me. I didn't know why, but for some reason, I knew that touching the flower would change something. It might put me in danger, but I would never know unless I took a risk.

I bit my lower lip and made a judgment call.

'It's now or never. Let's just get this over with and kill the suspense already.'

I slowly breathed out and reached out to the pixelated flower with my trembling arm. As soon as I touched it, or rather, passed through it, I felt myself being sucked toward it and everything went black.

* * *

I opened my eyes and found myself lying on my back. I slowly sat up and checked myself. I didn't seem to be injured anywhere. I took a look around.

'Trees and bushes…I'm still in the park, huh…Wait, this isn't the park,' I thought as I got up and surveyed my surroundings. 'These trees are different from the ones in the park. They seem…wild. Plus, all the greenery around here is way denser than the shrubbery in the park. It's practically a jungle here! Just where am I?'

As I tried to get my thoughts in order, I heard shouts and explosions from a far distance. I instinctively crouched low and hid behind a tree. The noise was coming closer and I could hear the rustle of bushes not far from where I was hiding. I took a peek from behind the tree and saw a cloud of purple smoke lingering in the air. Suddenly, something shot out of the bushes.

I pushed myself back against the tree with my heart pounding quickly as the thing, or creature or whatever it was, ran past me. As it ran, I saw a quick glimpse of it. It seemed to have six limbs and was running on two. It appeared to have a horn or something on what it looked like to be its head and a yellowish tail protruded from its posterior.

Not long after the creature ran past me, the bushes rustled again and more creatures ran past me. These creatures looked like overgrown purple mushrooms with arms and legs. There were four of them and they seemed to be chasing after the horned creature.

Without thinking too much, I ran after them.

'Just what the heck am I doing? Aaagh, no time to think, let's just act first then ask questions later,' I thought as I held my breath while passing through a cloud of purple smoke. I realized then where the smoke and explosions were coming from. The mushrooms ahead of me were throwing bombs, or what seemed to be bombs, at the horned creature, resulting in the stagnant clouds of smoke. Somehow, it didn't seem to be a good idea to inhale the smoke.

'Where are they procuring the bombs from anyway? Do they have pockets or something?' I thought to myself ludicrously.

I saw a clearing in the opening and immediately got behind a tree, catching my breath as I peeked from behind to see what was going on. The mushrooms had surrounded the creature which was sitting down, clutching one of its limbs, presumably its leg. From a distance, I could vaguely see that the creature actually had a yellow body covered in what seemed to be a pelt of white fur with blue stripes. There was also a blue oval shape on its front, presumably its abdomen.

I supposed the creature had hurt its leg from the way it held it. The mushrooms were holding bombs in their hands, apparently prepared to bombard the poor creature. What happened next completely caught me off guard and almost made me gasp. They spoke. Or at least, I think they were speaking. The mushrooms were saying something in what seemed to be a mocking tone, presumably belittling the injured creature.

As I listened, sudden realization dawned on me that they were speaking a human language. It was a language that I didn't understand, but recognized. They were speaking in Japanese. As this sunk into my head, another thing hit me. These creatures looked extremely familiar to something from my world. As I peeked from behind the tree, I remembered what they resembled. They looked exactly like Digimon.


	2. Chapter 2: Gabumon

**Author's Notes:**

 **I forgot to mention this, but throughout the story, I will be using the Japanese version of Digimon names including their level. For example, Kumamon in the English version is Bearmon in the Japanese version, Gatomon is Tailmon and so on. As for Digimon levels, it goes something like this : In-training/Baby, Rookie/Child, Champion/Adult, Ultimate/Perfect, Mega/Ultimate.**

 **Anything else that I forget to mention (hopefully there isn't any) I will add in the author's note section in future chapters. Thank you for reading.**

* * *

My eyes widened as I continued to observe what was going on. The injured creature was glaring at its hunters fiercely with its teeth bared. The mushrooms, or Mushmons as I remembered them, let out a laugh and raised their arms in a motion to throw the bombs.

Taking this as my cue, I swiftly sidestepped from the tree and rushed towards them, taking them by complete surprise. Before they could react, I punched two of them in their faces, temporarily disabling them, quickly spun into a roundhouse kick to take the third one down and finished off with a floor sweep to trip the final one. As I got up, I quickly grabbed the injured creature's paw and made a run for it.

It wasn't long before I could hear the shouts of angry Mushmons and the explosions of their bombs coming behind us. I wanted to run faster, but the injured Digimon was limping terribly. I decided to carry him on my back, but then I realized that I had no idea how to say that in Japanese. In desperation, I shouted in English, competing against the noise of the explosions set off by the bombs behind us.

"Hey, let me carry you on my back!"

The Digimon looked at me with a pained expression, clearly unable to understand what I had just said. Instead of repeating myself, I positioned myself awkwardly in front of him while I tried to keep running with my body lowered. Suddenly, a bomb went off right behind us, throwing us forward. I heard a cry of pain beside me just as I reflexively broke my fall with a roll and quickly moved to the Digimon who was struggling to push itself up from the ground. Hoisting the creature on my back, I started to sprint faster than before, gritting my teeth as I heard the shouts of our hunters draw closer.

Dodging the bombs left and right, I wove in and out of the forest, hoping to find a dense location to hide ourselves. I was panting heavily, quickly becoming tired from the chase. Besides my own heartbeat, I could feel the injured Digimon's heartbeat against my back as it clung onto me tightly.

'This isn't good. I'm running out of energy. If I don't think of something soon, we're both going to die. Just where can I-'

I yelped as a bomb exploded above my head when it made contact with a nearby tree and ducked, struggling to keep up my pace. I took a left turn into the thick foliage, hoping that the dense vegetation would give us more cover, but I soon found myself running out into a clearing. I looked around in panic and found an entrance to what appeared to be a cave.

'It's better than nothing. I'm at the end of the rope here!' I thought desperately as I rushed to the cave. I slowed down once we were in darkness and groped about, trying to find something to hide behind. Just as my hands discovered a huge stone, the shouts of Mushmons came within my hearing range. Alarmed, I quickly crouched down behind the stone, trying to calm myself and breathe evenly. My heart pounded faster as I heard their footsteps approach the cave. I bit my lower lip to keep myself from making a sound.

The Mushmons began to talk to each other, as if they were debating about something. I couldn't understand anything they said, except for the word 'Gryzmon'. Pretty soon, the sound of their footsteps and their voices trailed away from the cave until I couldn't hear them anymore. I sighed in relief and collapsed onto my rear end, the tension draining from my body.

'That was too close. I thought my heart was going to jump out of my mouth. And my lungs are burning up from all that running. If this cave wasn't here, we'd have been goners for sure. Just why did they suddenly give up though?'

My thoughts were interrupted when I felt something poke my shoulder. I looked behind to see the injured Digimon pointing behind us with an alarmed expression. When my eyes adjusted slightly to the darkness, I almost screamed when I made out a huge figure with menacing looking eyes towering over us. I could hear growling noises coming from the looming figure. Although I was terrified, I forced myself to act and started to sidle towards the cave entrance, feeling the injured Digimon tremble on my back. The towering form roared in anger and began to shout in what I assumed to be Japanese.

I flinched and almost collapsed again. My knees shook severely as I tried to keep moving, but fear paralyzed me. The towering figure took a step closer, revealing its true form. It was a huge bear Digimon with blue fur and a crescent shaped white patch on its forehead. I could feel my whole body shaking in terror as I looked at the sharp claws on its fore paws. It dawned on me that this was the 'Gryzmon' that the Mushmons were talking about.

Gryzmon roared again angrily and shouted in Japanese. I could only guess that it demanded to know why the two of us were in his cave. I felt the injured Digimon slip from my back and hobbled in front of me. Although it was shaking in fear, it began to speak, seemingly trying to explain our situation. I gulped when I saw that Gryzmon's angry expression didn't change.

Gryzmon squinted his eyes when Gabumon finished talking and lowered his body, looking at us like we were criminals. With a growl, he suddenly raised his claw in a motion to strike us. The injured Digimon and I held onto each other with our eyes closed, shaking in terror as we waited for the claw to tear us through. When nothing happened, I slowly opened an eye and saw that Gryzmon had lowered his claw.

As the injured Digimon and I began to let go of each other, Gryzmon shouted again, prompting the injured Digimon to grab my hand and rush outside. Panting heavily, the two of us continued to run far away from the cave, ignoring the leaves that slapped our faces as we ran into bushes and branches until we finally collapsed in exhaustion. We lay on our backs as we breathed heavily. My entire body was drenched in sweat and my heart felt like it was on the verge of exploding.

'Ok…I lied…Now my heart really feels like it's going to jump out of my mouth. Honestly, I think I'd rather take on the Mushmons any day than face that monster of a Digimon again. I don't remember the last time I was terrified to this degree. Not even Flint could terrify me like that. At least, I don't think he could…'

I shook my head, not wanting to know if I could be scared more than I had been, as I slowly sat up and leaned back against a tree, forcing myself to breathe evenly as my heartbeat gradually slowed down. The Digimon was sitting opposite of me, nursing its injured leg. I looked at it, trying to remember its name. A Digimon with a yellow body, a horn and a white fur coat. Upon closer examination, I realized that it did not have six limbs, but actually four. The other two appendages were just part of its fur coat.

'It looks like a canine with that fur coat on it. A canine Digimon…Darn it, I know this Digimon, but why can't I remember its name? What letter did it start with? W? G?'

As I struggled to remember, the Digimon spoke up as it continued to nurse its leg. The only words I recognized were 'thank you' and 'Gryzmon'. Although I couldn't understand what it was saying, I just smiled and nodded. Then, it asked a question, to which I could only respond with a puzzled expression.

'Ah, how do I tell it that I can't understand Japanese? Umm…'

I grimaced and scratched my head as I tried to recall the correct words in Japanese. The Digimon looked at me with its head slightly tilted as though trying to understand what I was doing. It spoke again, asking a different question. This time, I understood it and replied by introducing my name in Japanese. The Digimon repeated it slowly as it tried to pronounce the name correctly. It then pointed to itself and said that its name was Gabumon.

I almost slapped my forehead as I thought, 'Duh! He's one of the main characters in the original Digimon series. No wonder he looked so familiar. If I remember correctly, he wasn't a canine Digimon, but actually reptilian, not that it matters or anything.'

Smiling, I held out a hand to Gabumon who smiled back and shook it. As I leaned back, I snapped my finger in realization when the correct Japanese words popped into my head. Hoping that my grammar was correct, I told Gabumon that I couldn't understand Japanese and that I was a Korean. I realized right after I had spoken that revealing my nationality may have been unnecessary as I doubted Digimons knew anything about the Real World. Gabumon looked at me with an odd expression, but soon nodded and said something that I couldn't understand. I let out a sigh, assuming that he understood enough to know we wouldn't be able to communicate easily.

I looked at his injured leg. It was bleeding and was a darker color than his uninjured leg, as though it had been burned. I pointed to his leg and asked if he was all right. He smiled and replied that he was fine and said something else that I didn't get. Suddenly, my stomach growled, reminding me for the second time that I had gone the whole day without any nourishment. I could feel my face turn red in embarrassment as Gabumon chuckled. He stood up and began limping towards the bushes as he said something I couldn't understand. I got up after him, but he gently pushed me back down, saying more stuff in Japanese. I assumed he was going to take a look around and find something to eat. Although I wanted to tell him that he should rest and I should look around, my inability to properly speak Japanese made me comply.

When he disappeared into the trees, I looked around me and was surprised to realize that it had grown very dark. I could barely make out the outlines of the trees. The sky was absolutely dark save for a few stars scattered about. I shivered a bit, noticing the air had grown colder, and wished that I had a jacket. Due to all that excitement, I hadn't noticed how much time had passed.

'What a day…' I thought as I looked at the sky. 'I end up in Japan where I basically spend the whole day trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do without any luck, then wind up in the Digital World where I barely spend 5 minutes before getting caught up in a wild chase, and then almost get slaughtered by an angry Gryzmon. I think I've had enough excitement for one day. Is everyday going to be like this? I won't survive three days here if I have to run away from hostile Digimon all the time.'

My stomach growled, demanding that I eat something before I pass out. I groaned as I rubbed my belly and suddenly felt the urge to relieve myself. I sighed and slowly stood up.

"Man, what is up with my body today? It's like trying to pacify a baby that won't stop crying or something. Then again, I don't normally go for a whole day without food. I'm pretty surprised that I didn't wet my pants when Gryzmon terrified us…" I said out loud as I moved into the bushes to do my business.

I jumped when the bushes behind me rustled and heard Gabumon saying something as he returned from his scavenging. I could feel myself blushing when Gabumon came closer to where I was and asked something in Japanese, presumably asking what I was doing. I quickly stammered the word 'restroom' in Japanese, prompting Gabumon to say 'Ah!' and turn away in a hurry. I finished up and returned to our temporary resting place, still feeling pretty embarrassed. Apparently, I wasn't the only one as I could see Gabumon scratching his head and looking sheepish. On the ground in front of him, there were fruits, or what I assumed to be fruits, of many varieties. I also noticed that his injured leg was covered up in leaves.

I sat down and pointed at his leg, to which he responded by saying something in Japanese and smiling, indicating that he was fine. I guessed that he had found some useful herbs to treat his wounds. He opened his arms toward the food and said something as he gestured me to eat. I thanked him as I picked up a piece of red fruit that looked similar to a strawberry and bit into it, enjoying the sweetness that spread throughout my tongue. I felt refreshed as I gobbled down some more fruit, unaware that Gabumon wasn't eating, but observing me.

It took me a while before I realized that I was the only one pigging out and looked up at Gabumon. He was quietly watching me with a somewhat content look on his face. Feeling embarrassed at my lack of consideration, I wiped the juice dribbling from my mouth and pointed to him, then at the food. Gabumon shook his head and motioned for me to keep eating. I looked at him with a puzzled expression, wondering if he wasn't hungry. He just said that it was fine and insisted that I keep eating. Still feeling slightly guilty, I reached out to grab another piece of fruit.

Just as I was about to put the fruit in my mouth, something flew from the bushes across from us and dropped onto the pile of fruits. As it landed, the pile of fruits exploded, sending Gabumon and me flying backwards into the bushes. I cried out as I landed painfully on my back and coughed violently, having inhaled the purple smoke that came with the explosion. I struggled to get up, ignoring the fruity mess all over my face and body. Gabumon was just starting to climb out of the bushes when we heard familiar voices coming from the other side of us. My heart sank in despair when we saw our unwelcomed visitors step into our resting place: the Mushmons had come back, only this time, a different Digimon was added to the ensemble. It looked like a very evil looking humongous tree stump with branches for its arms.

The five tormentors approached us with evil grins on their faces, the four Mushmons holding bombs in their hands. They started cackling and spoke to us in menacing tones. I had no idea what they were saying, but I could guess that none of it was pleasant from the way Gabumon growled at them. When the Mushmons had done talking, all five of them made motions to start attacking us, but Gabumon was quicker.

"Petit Fire!"

Blue streams of flame shot out from Gabumon's mouth, hitting three of the enemies bunched together and knocking them down. Before they could react, Gabumon ran towards me, grabbed my hand and made a run for it. We didn't run far before I remembered Gabumon's injured leg and immediately began to hoist him on my back as we ran. Ignoring his protests, I picked up the pace, not knowing where I was going. In addition to the bombs exploding behind us, miniature missiles flew past us, sometimes just barely missing. Soon, I realized that the missiles were actually razor sharp leaves and they were coming from the tree stump Digimon. It didn't take long before I was panting heavily and coughing violently. I guessed that the purple smoke was affecting my respiratory system and hoped that I wasn't poisoned.

I was growing desperate as the explosions and shouts of angry Mushmon grew louder behind us. No matter how much I ducked in and out of the forest, I couldn't seem to lose them. Why were they so tenacious in wanting to catch us? I grit my teeth as I looked at the ground and forced myself to keep running despite my lungs feeling like they were burning up and my legs threatening to give away. All of the sudden, Gabumon shouted out something and pointed in front of us. I looked up and almost cried out: I had taken us back to Gryzmon's cave without realizing it.

Just then, a bomb blew up right behind my right leg, launching us forward high into the air as we screamed. I landed with a roll, but that wasn't enough to prevent my right shoulder from taking too much impact. I grimaced, but just as I was about to clutch my shoulder, another pain registered in my brain. I screamed as clutched my right leg. The direct hit from the explosion had burned my leg to a black crisp.

Gabumon was trembling as he struggled to get up, but collapsed again. Behind us, the five predators had caught up, looking smug as they slowly made their way toward us. They said something, presumably more snide remarks, and wasted no time in preparing to land the final blow. The tree stump Digimon raised its arms and I noticed that it was aiming for Gabumon. Willing myself not to throw up from the agony, I gritted my teeth, mustering every strength I had left and dove toward Gabumon just as the leaves shot out from the Digimon's arms.

"Aaaaaaggghhh!"

I screamed in pain as I felt the sharp leaves sink into my back and legs. Gabumon was yelling my name and holding onto me. I couldn't stop screaming. It felt as though I was continuously stabbed my multiple knives all over my body. Blood quickly drenched my clothes as I lay there on my stomach. I was nauseated and vomited blood as I fought to keep myself from fainting. Gabumon could only watch in fear and helplessness as our enemies prepared their attacks again.


	3. Chapter 3: Gryzmon

**Author's Notes:**

 **As a forewarning, story development in this chapter happens very slowly. There is minimal dialogue and a lot of minor details, so please bear with it. Also, I've been writing in first person the whole time, but the point of view may change implicitly depending on the situation. You'll probably understand just what I mean as you read this chapter. Thank you for reading.**

* * *

'It's…It's no good…' I thought as I closed my eyes and waited in utter resignation for the final blow to land.

Suddenly, a roar came from inside of the cave and something shot out with a flash of bright light, sending two Mushmons flying backwards when it made contact with them. The remaining three looked at each other in surprise as their triumphant expressions quickly changed to terrified ones. Gabumon looked behind us and cried out, "Gryzmon!"

The commotion outside the cave had apparently caught the bear Digimon's attention and he had come out to take matters into his own paws. Although the remaining enemy Digimon were clearly afraid, they shouted at each other and began to charge at Gryzmon. The animal Digimon swiftly evaded the razor sharp leaves fired by the tree stump Digimon and spun around to dodge a charging attack of a Mushmon while swinging his claw simultaneously for a counter attack. As the Mushmon went flying to the side, the other Mushmon began assaulting Gryzmon with a flurry of bombs. However, Gryzmon was surprisingly agile and avoided the bombardment as he charged towards the attacking Mushmon.

"Atemigaeshi!" Gryzmon shouted as he tackled the Mushmon and threw him to the ground. The Mushmon squeaked in pain and was completely immobilized from the shock. As Gryzmon got up from his attack, the wooden Digimon attacked with its sharp leaves again. Gryzmon sidestepped just before the leaves could pierce him and returned a counter attack.

"Crescent Dawn!"

A bright light flashed as a wave of energy flew from Gryzmon's claws towards the wooden Digimon. It screamed as the attack made contact and was thrown into a tree behind it. Before it could recover, Gryzmon rushed towards it and held its body tightly against the tree, preventing the Digimon from making any move. The bear Digimon growled menacingly and shouted what seemed like threats to the Digimon. After Gryzmon had finished threatening it, he let go and roared at it, causing the enemy Digimon to pick up their fallen comrades in a hurry and flee for their lives.

When they had completely disappeared from our sight, Gryzmon turned to us. Gabumon had been watching with a mix of awe and terror as he continued to hold on to my bloody body. I was biting my lower lip to prevent myself from screaming, but couldn't stop the groaning the escaped from my mouth. I could feel Gabumon shaking when Gryzmon loomed over us. In a less menacing voice, Gryzmon said something and proceeded to gently pick me up by my belly. I screamed as I felt myself being moved, but Gryzmon ignored me and carried my battered body into the cave. Out of my half-opened eyes, I could see Gabumon limping beside us, looking at me with a deeply concerned look on his face.

I coughed violently as Gryzmon laid me down on a pile of leaves on my belly. He then proceeded to remove the sharp leaves from my body. I jerked and cried out in pain, trying not to squirm too much. Gabumon held my hand and shouted something to me, presumably telling me to hang on. I continued to jerk and yell uncontrollably, occasionally coughing in between until Gryzmon had managed to pluck out all the missiles from my body.

Gryzmon then said something in Japanese to which Gabumon replied by saying something else. I felt my upper body being gently lifted by Gryzmon while Gabumon tugged at my shirt. I yelped when I felt some of the dried blood catch onto the clothing and made agonized sounds until my shirt was completely removed. Then, the lower half of my body was lifted and I felt my pants being removed. This time, I screamed when the burning sensation in my burnt leg intensified as the clothing moved past my legs. Gabumon said something apologetically with a pained expression as he continued to remove my pants. By the time they finished removing my pants, I felt like I was worse off than before. Every single part of my body screamed for mercy, telling me to end this torture. My throat was becoming hoarser by the moment as I kept coughing relentlessly.

While I lay in misery, Gryzmon said something to Gabumon and disappeared deeper into the cave. After a while, he returned with a basket of what seemed to be medical supplies. Taking a small bottle from the basket, he poured the contents into a bowl, gently lifted my head and put the rim of the bowl to my mouth. I grimaced as I swallowed the bitter tasting liquid, but was grateful when my coughing greatly diminished. Gryzmon then handed a different bottle to Gabumon and said something while he pressed down on my shoulders, making sure his claws wouldn't scratch my skin. Gabumon looked at me again with a pained expression and began to pour the contents of the bottle onto my back. As soon as the cold liquid made contact, I immediately screamed and would've jumped up if Gryzmon hadn't held my body in place. Gryzmon growled at me and said something, but the pain made me lose all self-control. If my back felt like hot coals were on top of it before, it felt like molten lava was poured onto it now. I continued to struggle and yell under Gryzmon's firm hold until the immediate effects of the medicine had simmered down, allowing me to regain a bit of self-control. Gryzmon removed his paws from my shoulders and moved to my legs were he anchored them down by my ankles. I groaned as I anticipated what would happen next and soon lost control again when the liquid was applied to my legs.

As I continued to struggle under Gryzmon's grip, the bear Digimon said something to Gabumon who responded by grabbing a cloth and a roll of bandage from the basket. Using the cloth, Gabumon began to gently wipe away the blood from my legs. I twitched and quivered, but managed to hold still, groaning as the cloth made contact with my bloodied skin. The same treatment was done to my back and when it was finished, another dose of liquid was applied to my injured body parts. This time, the pain was easier to bear and I managed to keep still until it was over as I clenched my fists tight to endure the agony.

With one paw still holding my legs down, Gryzmon used his free paw to unroll the bandage with Gabumon's help and began to bandage my legs. I flinched in pain as the cloth touched my bloodied skin, but managed to keep myself from struggling too much. When my legs were covered up, they proceeded to bandage my perforated back with Gryzmon holding my upper body up as Gabumon wrapped the bandage around my body. Finally, when the treatment was finished, I was laid down to rest. I panted heavily as if I had just run a marathon and could feel my body aching all over. It felt like sweat had poured out of every pore in my body.

Beside me, Gabumon was sitting down in front of Gryzmon who was examining his bloodied leg. Gabumon gritted his teeth and made agonized sounds as Gryzmon began to treat his leg in a similar fashion that he did to mine. When he was finished, Gryzmon checked other parts of Gabumon's body for any other injuries and nodded to indicate that he seemed fine.

As Gryzmon returned to the deeper recesses of the cave to return the medical supplies, Gabumon lay down beside me and let out a deep sigh. He turned his face to look at me and said something with a smile. I gave him a weak smile as I tried not to wince. Then, darkness fell upon me as the adrenaline drained from my body and the accumulated fatigue pulled me into a deep slumber.

* * *

 _I could feel myself floating about. I was floating freely without anything holding me down. It was as though I was weightless. Perhaps I was in space where gravity couldn't touch me. Or maybe I was just an astral projection of my own consciousness. Or maybe I was dead and had remained as a ghost. For some reason, that thought didn't bother me at all as I kept floating about without aim. Suddenly, somewhere in the distance, something was approaching me. I couldn't tell what it was or what it even looked like. I tried to focus on the mysterious object, but the more I tried, the hazier it became. I looked around me and then at my hands and realized that I couldn't even see my own hands properly. The unknown object came closer and closer until it was right in front of me. For some reason, I felt like I knew what the object was, but couldn't really put a finger on it. I reached out to touch the object when all of the sudden, I felt myself falling._

* * *

I opened my eyes in panic. For a moment, I thought my eyesight had grown severely bad as what I saw in front of me was a blur of red and white. Then, I heard a yelp and the blur of red and white disappeared from my vision. As the obstruction disappeared from my sight, a stream of sunlight entered my vision, letting me know that it was morning. Realizing that I was lying on my belly, I tried to get up, but cried out in pain when I felt stinging sensations all throughout my back and legs. I lay back down with a moan as I heard a gruff voice say something from behind me. I had completely forgotten about yesterday's ordeals. I felt my body ache all over, making me wish that I had never woken up.

A voice spoke my name and said something else as an object came into my view. It looked like a piece of fish that was slightly smoking, although the scent was quite pleasant. I looked beside me and saw that it was Gabumon offering the fish that was skewered on a stick. He looked sheepishly at me as he rubbed his head and apologized while saying something else. I realized then that the blur of red and white I had seen earlier were his eyes and fur coat. He must've been watching me sleep at a very close distance, perhaps waiting for me to wake up.

Gabumon spoke again and pointed at the fish, presumably asking if I wanted to eat, so I nodded and tried to move my arm to take the fish from his hand. However, Gabumon put his hand on my arm and shook his head as he motioned for me to open my mouth. Realizing with embarrassment that he was going to feed me, I reluctantly obeyed.

'This is absolutely embarrassing. I'm glad no one can see me in this condition. If Flint ever saw me like this, he would've never let me forget about it. This fish is really good though…' I thought as I ate while I savored the fish. Gabumon continued to feed me and occasionally help me drink some water from a bowl until I was finished. When I had my fill, I thanked him, feeling content and full. Before Gabumon could clear up, Gryzmon came over and took the remaining fish bones as he said something to Gabumon. The smaller Digimon got up with a reply, trying to take the leftovers from Gryzmon, but the bear Digimon pushed him back down and said some more words, presumably telling him to rest. When Gryzmon had finished cleaning up, he motioned for Gabumon to come over.

'What happens now? Am I going to have to stay like this until I get better?' I thought as I watched Gabumon and Gryzmon sit down facing each other. As the two Digimon began to have a conversation, I vaguely wondered what happened last night after I had passed out.

'Why did Gryzmon even help us? He could've just left us after he chased away those Mushmons. I thought he didn't want us around here. Man, I wish I could speak Japanese. Why do the Digimon even speak Japanese? Don't they have their own language?'

My mind was beginning to fill with all sorts of questions as the two Digimon continued their chat. It didn't seem like a casual conversation, seeing that Gabumon was looking downtrodden while Gryzmon had a serious look on his face. It was also slightly disconcerting that they occasionally took a glance at me while they talked. Apparently, I was a subject of their conversation.

I continued to listen to them, trying to see if I could make sense of anything they said, but the most I got was 'human', 'Digital World', a bunch of Digimon names that I lost track of and finally, my own name. I also noticed that they kept repeating a certain word that sounded like 'kansen' several times, but couldn't figure out what it meant.

'Kansen…Kansen…That word, I know that word. It sounds so familiar, but where did I hear it? I don't think I learned it in Japanese class. It sounds like they're using it as an adjective since the word 'Digimon' seem to come after it all the time. And what do I have to do with any of this? I just hope I'm not seen as a threat or anything. Then again, Gryzmon wouldn't have taken the trouble to patch me up like this if he thought I was a danger…'

My train of thought was interrupted when I heard Gryzmon call out my name. As I looked at him, he asked me if I was a human. I blinked in surprise and looked at both Gabumon and Gryzmon. It never occurred to me that they may never have seen a human before I came along. When I replied that I was a human, the two Digimon looked at each other and started smiling. I looked at them with a perplexed expression, wondering why their serious countenances had suddenly brightened up. Gryzmon said something to Gabumon who nodded with a determined look on his face.

'Well, I take it that I'm good news to them, or at least, the fact that I'm a human is good news,' I thought with a wry smile as Gabumon walked over to me. The reptilian Digimon sat down in front of me and began to say something, pointing at me and then at himself. Although the words 'you,' 'me,' 'Digital World' and the word that sounded like 'kansen' came to my ears, I couldn't piece them together to make sense of what he said. He sighed as he lowered his head when the look on my face told him that I didn't comprehend what he was trying to tell me. Gryzmon let out a deep breath and came over to us as he said something to Gabumon. He sat down beside Gabumon and began to use single words while pointing at me and Gabumon. Using gestures to help explain what he was trying to tell me, I finally understood that they wanted me to go with Gabumon somewhere for a specific purpose.

Suddenly, it occurred to me that I knew how to ask what something was in Japanese. When I asked what the word 'kansen' meant, the two Digimon glanced at each other with uncertain looks and began talking to each other, as if discussing how they could explain it to me. When they seemed to have reached an agreement, Gabumon got my attention and then clutched his stomach with one hand and his head with the other, as though he were in pain. I gave him a confused look, thinking that he was trying to act like he was sick. I pointed to myself with a raised eyebrow, wondering if I counted as 'kansen' to which Gryzmon shook his head. Gryzmon then put a paw on his chin as though trying to think of a better way to tell me. It seemed as though an idea occurred to him when he widened his eyes and motioned for Gabumon to stop acting. The bear Digimon pointed first to Gabumon's injured leg saying that it was 'kansen' and then to his normal leg saying that it was not 'kansen'. I raised an eyebrow, thinking that the word meant 'hurt' and pointed to myself again. Gryzmon sighed in exasperation, but Gabumon seemed to have another idea and said something to Gryzmon. Gryzmon gave him a look of disapproval, but reluctantly nodded. Gabumon then undid the bandages that were covering his injured leg, revealing a healing, but ugly looking wound. He first pointed to the swollen skin and said that it was 'kansen' and then to his uninjured leg, saying that it was not 'kansen.'

'Swollen? 'Kansen' means swollen? So they were talking about swollen Digimon the whole time? Wait, no, that can't be right. Gabumon first acted like he was sick or something and now, they're using his injured leg to try and explain. What does his swollen leg and being sick have in common? Uhh…Something in common…Oh, hold on, what if what they're trying to tell me is not the symptoms, but the cause? Something that can cause a sickness and swelling. A virus? A bacteria? But using these words as adjectives doesn't seem to make much sense. Something similar to that…Oh!'

In my excitement, I shouted "infection!" causing both Digimon to look at me with surprised looks. I looked at them with a look of embarrassment and apologized. Then, another thought occurred to me. I asked Gabumon if he was an infected Digimon, to which he shook his head. Feeling that I was missing something, I asked what an 'infected Digimon' was. Gabumon and Gryzmon looked at each other, unsure of how to explain. The two Digimon began to talk among themselves again until they had come up with an idea. Standing side by side, Gabumon pointed to himself and said that he was not an 'infected Digimon.' Then, Gryzmon roared, though not as loudly as he did yesterday, as he got on all fours and began to growl menacingly. My heart started pounding even though I knew that he was only acting. Even Gabumon looked frightened as he gestured toward Gryzmon and said that he was an 'infected Digimon.' I nodded my head as Gryzmon stood up again, rubbing his head as he apologized and looked embarrassed. While Gabumon was talking to Gryzmon with a nervous chuckle, presumably reassuring the larger Digimon that we weren't terrified by his realistic act, I began to connect the pieces together. Apparently, infected Digimon were those that have become hostile due to an infection of some sort. I could only guess that Gabumon was somehow involved with the whole infection business and that I also played a part in this.

'Well, that's one mystery solved,' I thought as I watched Gryzmon retreat into the deeper part of the cave while Gabumon sat down against the cave wall to rest. Although I still had many questions, I knew I'd have to be patient before I knew the whole story and my part in the bigger picture.

'I can wait. It's not like I have much of a choice anyway. Besides,' I thought with a chuckle as I looked at Gabumon who was nodding off into dream land. 'I think I'm going to have an interesting time hanging around that guy. Who knows? I might even meet other humans if I stick around long enough. One thing's for sure. I won't have to worry about being bored in this world.'

Gabumon began to snore gently. He had his hands rested on his belly and had a satisfied look on his face. From the deeper part of the cave, I could hear Gryzmon's loud snores resonate throughout the cave. I couldn't help but smile. Whatever journey lay ahead of us, it was definitely going to be interesting.

* * *

 **Side Note:**

 **As an aside, the wooden Digimon's name was never mentioned because the main character couldn't remember the name and no one else explicitly mentioned what they were called. I'm sure all of you must've found out already, but for those who are curious, they are called Woodmon, the Adult/Champion form of the Child/Rookie level Mushmon. Feel free to critique/comment. Thank you again for reading.**


	4. Chapter 4: Respite

**Author's Notes:**

 **Sorry for the slow story development. I'm still trying to get a handle of how the story should progress. Anyways, thank you for reading and being patient.**

* * *

During our stay at Gryzmon's cave, we had developed a daily routine. In the morning, Gryzmon would cook the food and Gabumon would feed me. Although I kept insisting that I could eat by myself, Gabumon wouldn't listen to me. It was as if he actually enjoyed treating me like a baby. After breakfast, Gryzmon would help me wash up and relieve myself by a pond not far from the cave. At first, I refused to let anyone accompany me when I had to use the restroom, but Gryzmon wouldn't have any of it and "threatened" me with his mock growling. In the end, we reached a compromise: when I did my business I would make sure Gryzmon stayed far away where he couldn't see me and I would call for him when I was finished.

'I know I'm a patient and I can't move around freely, but this is getting ridiculous,' I thought with a sigh one day as Gryzmon carried me on his back and returned to the cave after I had washed up.

'It's not like my legs are broken, just hurt. Why can't he just let me walk while he supports me by the arms or something? What, is he afraid I might fall and break an arm? Both Gryzmon and Gabumon are treating me like I'm a fragile baby just born yesterday! If only I could speak Japanese, I'd give them a piece of my mind. Well…Maybe just Gabumon,' I thought as I remembered just how frightening Gryzmon could become if he chose to.

I looked at Gryzmon as he gently laid me down on the pile of leaves and muttered a thanks. He nodded and went over to Gabumon who was doodling on the ground in boredom and began to have a light conversation with him. I sighed as I looked at them, longing to join in on their talk. As I moped in silence, listening to their chat, I began to find my situation somewhat ironic.

'First, the language barrier, now, physical disability. I can't do anything at all without any help! I came to this world for a specific purpose without even knowing exactly what that purpose is and all I seem to do is become a hindrance to those around me. And I've only been here for what, three days? This is absolutely lame. It's like my training with Flint was absolutely pointless. I can hear him now, "You got ambushed by a bunch of overgrown mushrooms and got attacked by leaves?! Not even thorns or poison ivy, but leaves?! What, were you so hungry that you didn't have any strength to even fend off a bunch of harmless fungi?! They were throwing bombs at you? You call that an excuse?! What the heck do you think I trained you to do, become a world champion at dodgeball or something? You couldn't fight back because of an injured animal? Are you serious?! What, it never occurred to you to hide your friend while you lured the mushrooms away so that you could fight without hurting your friend? Did you leave your brain behind in Limbo?! So, what, in the end you were saved by a bear? Oh, that's something to boast about, isn't it? I'm surprised that the bear didn't tear you to bits in your sorry state! I don't know what's more shocking, that you're still alive or that you seemed to have completely forgotten everything I've taught you! I swear, I should just double your training regime without giving you time to even breathe!"'

I groaned to myself, hating how accurate my imagination of Flint's reaction was. I was not looking forward to seeing him again, if I made it out of this journey alive. His bark was just as bad as his bite and that man had a nasty bite. At least he had meant it all for my own good. I think.

As I continued to observe the two Digimon talk animatedly, I began to realize that if I wanted to communicate with them, I would have to learn Japanese. Unfortunately, the only way I could learn was making educated guesses from the Digimon's gestures. However, I couldn't be kept in the dark forever.

I interrupted their talk as I apologized and asked them about a few of the words they've been using. For the next couple of moments, the two Digimon made motions and gestures, trying their best to explain what each word meant. However, all three of us soon got tired when I couldn't get past the first word that I had asked about.

'Well, I was never good at charades to begin with,' I thought with a sigh as the two Digimon sat back down with weary expressions. I guessed the words I had chosen were too hard to try and explain using only body language.

Then, as if he suddenly had an idea, Gryzmon picked up a piece of pebble from the ground and showed it to me, saying, "ishi." I looked at him in confusion, so he pointed at the pebble again and repeated the word. I understood that he was telling me what pebble was in Japanese, but I wasn't sure why he was telling me that. It didn't seem to have any relation to what they were trying to tell me earlier using body language. Gabumon seemed to look confused too, so he asked Gryzmon a question, presumably asking what he was doing. When Gryzmon gave a long answer, Gabumon nodded understanding the bear Digimon's intentions. Then Gabumon picked up a stick and said, "eda." I looked at him in bewilderment, wondering what on earth the two Digimon were doing. They continued to name random objects in Japanese, including some of the medical supplies that Gryzmon had brought out. When they went over the same objects again, I began to understand what they were doing. Since I couldn't understand the difficult words, they were teaching me the more basic words first. I repeated after them as they continued to name some objects, being corrected when I made mistakes.

When it was apparent that I was losing concentration and made several mistakes, they stopped and decided to rest. Gryzmon looked outside of the cave where the light was waning and muttered something to himself. Then, he stood up and walked outside of the cave as he said something to Gabumon who nodded in reply. I assumed that he was going to fish for dinner and sure enough, when the sunlight had disappeared and darkness came, Gryzmon returned with some fish all tied up on a piece of string. Gabumon had gathered some twigs and leaves around the forest and made a fire when Gryzmon had returned. Soon, the fish were cooking and we found ourselves having a satisfactory dinner.

'Hmm…I wonder if Digimon eat any meat besides fish. Actually, is there even meat in this world? I guess they'd have to eat each other or something since there doesn't seem to be animals apart from Digimon here. That's a gruesome thing to think about. Ugh, they'd have to be cannibals to do that. I think I'll ask sometime when we're not eating and when I've learned enough Japanese to actually ask the question,' I thought as I chewed.

While we ate, Gryzmon pointed to the fish and said, "sakana." I sighed inwardly and repeated the word. It seemed like Gryzmon had taken up the role of being my personal Japanese tutor and looked for every opportunity to teach me new words. Gabumon joined in and pointed at the fire, saying "hi". I sighed again as I repeated the word several times. Gryzmon tested my memory by pointing at some objects we had gone through earlier. However, when I had made a couple of mistakes, Gryzmon frowned at me, clearly disappointed with my inferior memory. The bear Digimon sighed and said something to Gabumon who only shrugged his shoulders in reply.

After dinner, we went through a couple more objects again, but this time, when I made a mistake, Gryzmon flicked my forehead. Although I protested and tried to cover my face, the bigger Digimon easily pushed my hands away and administered the penalty. It was surprisingly effective and I found myself concentrating harder to avoid making the same mistakes. By the time we were finished, I was vigorously rubbing my forehead as I felt it throb violently.

'Unorthodox, but effective,' I thought as I looked spitefully at Gryzmon's back as he disappeared into his private space. 'Just like Flint. If words don't cut it, then force will. Jeez, and I thought I managed to get away from him. Who knew there'd be another one just like him? And Gryzmon's not even human!'

Gabumon was chuckling beside me as he said something, presumably telling me that I looked funny. I stuck my tongue out him childishly as I continued to rub my sore forehead. Then, Gryzmon returned carrying a piece of leaf as big as my hand. He said something as he squatted down and covered my forehead with the leaf. I felt something cool and wet underneath the leaf and guessed that Gryzmon must've applied some ointment to help soothe the throb. When I thanked him, he gave a small smile and returned to the deeper part of the cave, saying good night.

Lying down on the pile of leaves beside me, Gabumon spoke my name. I glanced at him with a reply. He then said thank you with a big smile. I gave him a surprised look and asked him why. He turned his face to the roof of the cave and started talking in Japanese. I couldn't understand most of what he was saying, but guessed that he was recalling the events that happened in the past few days as he mentioned the Mushmons, Gryzmon, my name and himself. He then seemed to move onto another topic, one that I couldn't get a handle on. It almost seemed like he had forgotten I couldn't speak Japanese and kept talking as if I was a longtime confidant. When he had finished, he turned his face toward me again and said with a smile that he and Gryzmon are happy to have met me. I gave him a look of surprise and felt myself blushing a bit as I nodded.

'I feel like a jerk,' I thought as I turned my head away from Gabumon. 'The whole time I've been here, all I've done was complain about how Gabumon and Gryzmon were patronizing me and wouldn't let me do anything alone. Why did it never occur to me that they weren't treating me like a child just for the sake of it, but just wanted to help me because they see me as a friend? We've only met a few days ago and both of them are going through a lot of trouble just to help me recover. They're even teaching me a new language! Why am I being so selfish?'

I turned to look over at Gabumon again and found him already asleep, his chest rising and falling steadily. Listening to his steady breathing in the darkness, I slowly closed my eyes and waited for sleep to come.

* * *

Around two weeks had passed since Gryzmon took us in. Each day, Gryzmon and Gabumon would furiously stuff my head with new Japanese words, sometimes taking me out of the cave to teach me names of the various things in the forest. When they weren't teaching me, they would either chat, sometimes making me join in so that I could make use of the Japanese I learned, or spar outside of the cave. I would lie on my belly at the cave entrance with the pain relieving leaf covering my forehead and watch them have their practice matches. From their fights, it was obvious that Gryzmon had a lot of experience as Gabumon always ended up on the ground and never seemed to be able to land a hit on the bear Digimon.

'It's like watching a Digimon version of me and Flint training back when I first entered Limbo,' I thought one afternoon as Gryzmon sidestepped to dodge a swing from Gabumon. 'I'd always be flailing at him while he dodged without any effort and then he'd berate me for being sloppy while he knocked me silly. I didn't have a clue how to even throw a proper punch back then. Gabumon seems to be doing way better than my past self though. It's just that Gryzmon has a lot of experience under his belt. Plus, if I remember correctly, Gryzmon's somewhat of a natural martial artist with his counter-attacking skills. He already had the upper hand when it comes to close combat.'

I couldn't help giggling when Gryzmon flicked Gabumon on the forehead after Gabumon made the same mistake for the third time in a row. It seemed like that was Gryzmon's trademark way of teaching. The two Digimon seemed to have finished their sparring match and came over to me. Gabumon sat down beside me rubbing his forehead while Gryzmon went to his private space, saying that he'd get some medicine. I chuckled at the smaller Digimon who was pouting while rubbing his forehead. In response, he stuck his tongue out at me.

'Who's laughing now? At least now he knows what it feels like to be on the receiving end of Gryzmon's fiery stings,' I thought with an amused look.

Suddenly, Gabumon pointed at something in the distance, asking out loud what that was. I looked to where he was pointing and saw an unfamiliar object approaching us from afar. Gabumon stood up, prepared to take action as it came closer to us. I could feel myself tensing up, but was soon surprised to find out that the mysterious object looked like a brown paperback book. What was more surprising was that the book was floating in midair. Then, both of us jumped when we heard a voice come from the book. It appeared to ask the whereabouts of Gryzmon.

Gabumon and I looked at each other nervously, wondering what we should do. Just then, Gryzmon returned with a leaf in his paw and gave a sound of recognition when he noticed the flying book. As Gryzmon approached the flying object, the book opened and a bright light shone. Gabumon and I covered our eyes as we could barely make out a form materializing from the book. Soon, the form took on the shape of a human-like creature floating above the opened book. Its face was covered by a hood and two orbs were hovering above its outstretched hands.

"Wisemon!" Gryzmon shouted as he greeted the mysterious figure. Gabumon and I looked at each other again with the same question in our heads: this mysterious figure was a Digimon?

The two Digimon started to talk jovially with one another. It seemed like Wisemon was an acquaintance of Gryzmon's and had come to see how the bear Digimon was doing. It also seemed like Gryzmon was explaining who we were when Wisemon inquired of the two strangers behind Gryzmon.

Wisemon looked at Gabumon first and then turned his attention to me. Suddenly, he zoomed towards me with surprising speed until his face was close to mine. I flinched back with a yelp, my heart pounding as my eyes met his yellow eyes visible under his hood. Wisemon blinked as he looked at me intently and then zoomed back to Gryzmon, asking a question. Gryzmon replied, saying something about teaching me Japanese. The human-like Digimon hovered in silence for a moment, as if deep in thought and suddenly disappeared into the book. Within a few seconds, he reappeared with a flash, possessing a blue box radiating with light. When he explained what it was, both Gryzmon and Gabumon gave an exclamation of surprise, shouting "Really?" I looked at the three Digimon in curiosity, wondering what that box was to have made them react like that.

Wisemon zoomed towards me again and put the box in my hands. It was the size of a jack-in-the-box and felt cool to the touch. I looked at Wisemon with a confused look, wondering why he was handing it to me. He held my hands and directed them so that the box would touch my forehead. The blue box began to slowly break down into millions of what seemed like data pieces. I widened my eyes in shock as I felt the data pieces enter my head through my ears. All of the sudden, an unexplainable sensation flooded into my brain. It felt as though the muscles in my brain were contracting and expanding repeatedly, though I knew it was technically impossible for my brain to feel anything at all. I must've blacked out for a moment without realizing it because when I had opened my eyes, both Gryzmon and Gabumon were looking at me with concerned looks.

"Are you alright?" Gabumon asked when I had come to my senses.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just feel funny. It felt like something weird was going in on in my head, as though-" I replied, then stopped mid-sentence. I stared at Gabumon and then at Gryzmon, both of whom were staring back at me. I had spoken fluent Japanese without even thinking about it.

"Woah, what just happened? How am I speaking Japanese so well all of the sudden? Wait, did that box do something to my brain?" I asked in shock, looking at Wisemon who seemed amused by our reactions.

"Strictly speaking, it wasn't the box that did anything, but rather the contents of the box. Also, it wasn't your brain that was affected, but rather your mind," Wisemon replied in a manner of fact tone.

"Wisemon, just tell him what happened," Gryzmon said with a sigh as he rolled his eyes.

"Well, it's a simple concept really. In the Digital World, data can be stored and consumed depending on its type and purpose. For example, the most common type of data we come across every day is food. Food is merely stored data shaped in the form of what we perceive to be food. The way we use that data is by directly consuming it to get nourishment. Knowledge can also be stored and consumed as data, but is actually quite rare because the procedure to convert it to data is very complicated and difficult. While food merely affects the physical body, knowledge affects the mind, something that isn't as concrete as the body. Also, the receiver of the data must be compatible with the specific knowledge in order to consume it properly. Otherwise, the data will just be wasted and vanish. Very few Digimon actually know about this because it is considered impractical and unnecessary due to the time and energy it takes to convert knowledge into data," Wisemon explained as we tried to keep up with what he said.

"So, basically, you're saying that I can speak Japanese because what you gave me is knowledge of Japanese in the form of data?" I asked, making sure I understood correctly.

"Simply put, yes. Although you were probably not 100 percent compatible to the data, I decided to give it a try since there was no risk of harming you. It turns out, as always, my hypothesis was correct," replied Wisemon with a smug look.

"But why did you think he was compatible at all?" Gabumon asked, genuinely curious.

"To put it simply, the receiver must have some foundation in that area of knowledge to consume the data. For Tyson-kun here, he already knew a bit of Japanese which he learned from you two. It also helped that the grammatical structure of Korean is similar to Japanese, so his compatibility to the data was quite high," Wisemon answered.

"Wait, you know I can speak Korean? How do you even know about the Korean language at all?" I asked in amazement.

"Gryzmon told me about you," Wisemon said as he glanced at the bear Digimon. "As for the Korean language, I enjoy researching fields that no one has attempted to study. The human world fascinates me! There are so many things to discover and learn about! One day, perhaps I will travel to your world to see for myself all the exotic places that I've only read about on paper. For now, unfortunately, I am bound to my duties in helping to put our world back in order."

"Put your world back in order? What do you mean?" I asked.

"Ah, well, I would give a lengthy explanation, but I must return to my research facility. It is growing late and I have lingered longer than I intended to. I have merely come to see how my old friend was doing. I'm sure these two," Wisemon gestured at Gryzmon and Gabumon "will tell you what I meant. Now, I shall take my leave. It was good to see you again Gryzmon. Oh, I almost forgot!"

He disappeared into the book and reappeared again in an instant. He held a shoe box in his hands and gave them to Gryzmon who looked at the box with a curious expression.

"It's the finished product of the medicine that I've been working on. Well, no, it would be inaccurate to say I since Sorcerymon did his part as well. I think you can make good use of it, especially since you have a patient," Wisemon explained as he nodded to me.

"Hold on, you know Sorcerymon?" Gabumon inquired excitedly.

"Gabumon, I have heard from Wizarmon through Sorcerymon about your journey, so I know what you are about to ask me, but wouldn't it be wiser to wait for Tyson-kun to be completely restored? I am sure you are very much aware that he plays an important role in helping our world come back to order," Wisemon said gently.

"Oh, right, ok…" Gabumon replied looking slightly disappointed.

"Well, I really must be going now. We shall see each other soon, I hope. Gryzmon knows where to find me. Take care now!"

Saying goodbye, Wisemon disappeared into the book and flew away, disappearing from our sight within a few seconds. We looked at the forest for a moment, still dazed from Wisemon's sudden appearance. Then, Gryzmon broke the reverie by stating that it was getting late. He bent down to stick the leaf on Gabumon's forehead, which had been forgotten with the appearance of Wisemon and went back into the deeper part of the cave with the box of medicine.

Gabumon shook his head as though he were trying to get a grip on himself and began to gather twigs and leaves to start a fire. Gryzmon returned and soon left the cave to fish while Gabumon created a fire. As he sat down beside me, I said, "There's going to be a lot of explaining to do tonight."

"Hmm," he said as he poked at the fire with a twig.

Just before the sun had completely vanished from the horizon, Gryzmon returned with his usual catch and pretty soon, the cave was filled with the scent of cooked fish once more. Although I was hungry, I found myself eating less than usual, anxious to hear their explanation. The two Digimon seemed to have lost their appetite as well as they chewed slowly, looking like they didn't want to eat. Finally, Gryzmon put down his fish with a sigh and said, "I guess it's time for some explanation."

I nodded and listened intently as Gryzmon began to talk.

* * *

 **Side Note:**

 **I purposely misspelt Wizarmon because I'm sticking with the Romanized names of Digimon. Not a big deal, just something I thought to point out. Feel free to critique/comment. Thanks for reading again.**


	5. Chapter 5: A Long Explanation

**Author's Notes:**

 **I'm really sorry for the long break. I had some issues going on in life. I'll be honest; I don't think I'll be able to post chapters frequently. Perhaps every two weeks or so. Once again, I apologize for the late update. Thank you for reading.**

* * *

"A couple of months ago, there was a strange rumor about some Digimon going feral in an abandoned waste site next to Central City. A Muchomon passing by had heard roaring and growling coming from the waste site. Terrified, he quickly ran to Central City and informed the Peacekeepers about what he had heard. A group of them went back with the Muchomon to see what was going on and what they saw was absolutely horrible. A small number of Digimon were roaring and screaming as though in pain, their bodies slightly contorted and their eyes glowing red. The Peacekeepers were just as terrified as the Muchomon was and didn't know what to do. Suddenly, the feral Digimon turned and charged towards them, as if their presence was detected. The watching Digimon scrambled to run away, but only the Muchomon and two others made it out alive while the others were horribly torn to bits and turn into data pieces. The survivors made it back to the city and hurried to warn the mayor. Fortunately, the Peacekeepers' headquarters had already received a warning message from one of the Peacekeepers before he was killed and they had managed to quickly spread the word and prepare for the incoming threat."

"Soon, the feral Digimon attacked the city, causing a lot of casualties, but the Peacekeepers managed to neutralize and capture them. Unfortunately, one of the feral Digimon had managed to escape. While some of the Peacekeepers chased after them, the headquarters contacted other villages and towns to warn them of the danger. However, they were shocked to hear that a few of the nearby villages had already been attacked and suffered terribly. They analyzed all the reports they received and came to the conclusion that there were multiple Digimon turning wild and hostile. Soon, scientists from all over the land were scurrying to analyze blood samples they got from injured civilians to compare them with the blood of the feral Digimon and all of them discovered the same thing: there was some sort of an anomaly in the blood that was affecting their biology. Those who had the anomaly either turned feral or showed symptoms of fever, nausea, pain and eventually died. The scientists figure out exactly what it was, so they simply dubbed it an 'infection.' However, since they couldn't figure out its cause, they couldn't find a way to cure the infection. Eventually, those wounded by the feral Digimon died and a great panic spread throughout the land."

"Amidst all the chaos, a new kind of phenomenon was discovered; distortions in space were popping up randomly in different parts of the land. It was also noticed that feral Digimon on the loose, now commonly known as 'infected' Digimon, always seemed to be near the vicinity of the distortions. Although scientists were unsure what the distortions were or what caused them, they were certain that the distortions and the infection had a connection, so the whole land was warned not to go near the distortions and was instructed to contact the nearest Peacekeeper if any suspicious activity was noticed."

"Pretty soon, the whole Digital World was falling out of balance. Distortions were sighted all over the place and the number of victims continued to increase. The city council decided that it was high time to send a petition to the Four Holy Beasts to ask for help, but it turned out that the Holy Beasts were already doing everything in their power to prevent the Digital World from completely falling into disorder. According to them, the source of the infection and distortions were the same and it came from the Real World. Since humans were likely to be the cause of all the trouble, it only made sense that the humans would have to be responsible in taking care of the mess they made. Although humans were summoned to help the Digital World in the past, the Holy Beasts didn't have enough energy remaining to summon them to the Digital World once more. They could only rely on luck and hope that a human somehow wandered into the Digital World through a distortion that connected the Real World to their own. It seemed like even the Holy Beasts were at the end of their ropes with this predicament."

"Despite the bad news, the city council didn't give up and announced to the general public a proposition. If anyone finds a human wandering in the Digital World and brings them to the city, the Digimon responsible would be rewarded an enormous amount of money. The city council hoped that this would encourage Digimons not to give in to the fear around them and take action to solve their current dilemma. Unfortunately, there were downsides to the proposition. Some Digimon tried to trick the city counselors by getting another Digimon to pretend to be a human. Others were reckless and ventured secretly to dangerous areas to search for humans, only to be killed by infected Digimon lurking around. In the end, it seemed like everyone was worse off than they had been before the search began."

Gryzmon stopped and let out a deep sigh. For a moment, all we could hear were the embers crackling in the fire. It seemed like he was finished talking. His expression had turned darker by the moment as he explained the situation to me. Now, it looked like he was utterly depressed, as if the whole predicament was entirely his fault. Gabumon, who had been silently listening with me the whole time, looked just as gloomy. I couldn't help but feel sorry for them. An external source had been the cause of all this mess and they couldn't do anything about it.

"Well, I'm here now, aren't I?" I spoke up, trying to cheer them up. "I just have to go to Central City with Gabumon and hopefully, things will start to look up again, right?"

I looked at them expectantly, hoping they would brighten up. Gabumon just shrugged his shoulders and twitched his mouth as if trying to smile while Gryzmon sighed again and stood up.

"It's getting late," he said as he cleared away the food. "Good night you two."

As Gryzmon went to his private space, Gabumon put out the fire and lay beside me. I stared into the darkness, pondering over the things that Gryzmon had said. To sum it all up, an unknown source, supposedly caused by a human from the Real World, was what caused Digimons to either die or turn feral and created distortions in random locations. Digimons all over the world have done everything in their power to fix all this mess, but in the end, their only hope remained in the tiniest possibility that a human would somehow end up in the Digital World and magically solve this problem. Now, here I was, possibly the only chance the Digimons had in saving their world.

'I don't get it. What exactly can I do to solve all this mess? If all the experts have already thought of every single possibility in sorting out this havoc, then what could I possibly do? This doesn't sound like a simple problem at all. It's not a clichéd story were the good guy fights the bad guy and wins. I mean, we're practically up against a digital epidemic that was apparently caused by a human. If that's true, then what would be their motive? And how on earth did they manage to pull it off?'

I sighed as I turned my face towards Gabumon. In the darkness, I barely managed to make out the outlines of his body. He was facing the other direction, his back turned towards me.

'There's something about Gryzmon's explanation that seemed a bit off. For one thing, he seems to have a deep knowledge about the infections and distortions. I don't think you could know that much just by hanging around all alone in a forest that's practically cut off from civilization. Is he hiding something? Something that he doesn't want to tell me?'

I turned my face to the other side again, becoming restless as questions began to pile up in my mind once more.

'And Gabumon doesn't seem to want to talk about his story either. I don't really know why. I bet that Gryzmon and Gabumon have told each other their stories and for some reason, aren't willing to tell me. Agh, I'm not going to be able to sleep if I get worked up over issues like these. Well, it's probably not my place to stick my nose into their private lives anyway. We might each go on our own way after we reach Central City and never see each other again.'

I sighed out loud and tried to force myself to sleep. However, curiosity got the better of me and I decided to ask Gabumon.

"Um, Gabumon?" I called out quietly, hoping that I wasn't waking him from his sleep.

It seemed like he was asleep when he didn't answer back after a while, but I saw his body shift and heard him reply softly, "What is it?"

"Well," I began carefully, wanting to avoid offending the Digimon. "I know it's really none of my business, but what happened to Gryzmon? Before he came to this cave I mean. He must've lived somewhere else before living here. And what about you? Why were you chased by those Mushmons?"

A moment of silence filled the air and I feared that I had greatly offended him. Before I could open my mouth to apologize, Gabumon replied in a tired voice.

"Gryzmon's story isn't mine to tell. He has reasons for not sharing it with you. Don't get the wrong idea though. It isn't because he doesn't trust you. It's just something that's difficult for him to share."

"But he told you?" I asked, unable to hide a bit of annoyance at being left out.

"He told me because he had to tell someone. It was a burden that he had to get off from his chest and sharing it helped lighten the load. To tell you the truth, I sort of wish I hadn't heard his story," he replied with a sigh.

"Why?"

There was a brief moment of silence again before he replied.

"Let's just say I have my own load to carry," he said.

Although I knew I was pushing it, I ventured one more time to see if I could get him to talk about himself.

"I guess you won't be telling me your story then."

"Not tonight Tyson," Gabumon replied after a while. "Now, let's go to sleep before Gryzmon wakes up and pummels us until we grow extra horns out of our heads."

Gabumon turned to the other side again and fell silent. Although I wasn't satisfied, I complied and closed my eyes.

'Not a happy story to tell, huh? I guess if it were me, I'd have the same attitude. Well, I'll ask Gryzmon tomorrow and if he doesn't want to tell me, I'll just drop the whole matter altogether,' I thought as I slowly felt myself drifting into unconsciousness.

* * *

The next day, I looked for opportunities to ask Gryzmon about his story, but he kept avoiding me as if he knew what I was going to ask him. He avoided looking at me during meals, retired to his private space when he wasn't sparring with Gabumon and even let me go use the restroom by myself for once. The only time I actually did manage to speak directly to him was when he handed a bottle of Wisemon's new medicine to me and told me to drink it.

"Gryzmon," I began as I unscrewed the stopper from the bottle. "I know I'm being nosy by asking, but I want to know-"

"Later Tyson," Gryzmon said curtly as he cut me off and returned to his private space.

I sighed as I drank down the contents of the bottle, surprised that it didn't taste as bitter as I thought it would.

'I should go apologize to Gryzmon later. Why am I persistent in wanting to know his private life? That goes for Gabumon as well. I'll apologize to him first,' I thought as I got up and walked outside of the cave where Gabumon was practicing his strikes against a wooden dummy.

"What are you doing? You shouldn't be walking around. Go lie down before Gryzmon sees you," Gabumon said when he saw me approach him.

"Listen, Gabumon, I just wanted to apologize for yesterday," I said while Gabumon resumed hitting the dummy. "It wasn't my place to ask about your private life and I should've known better. I'm sorry for offending you. I won't ask again."

Gabumon stopped hitting the dummy and sighed as he looked at me.

"I wasn't offended yesterday. You don't have to apologize. It's just…Not an easy matter to handle, alright? Don't worry about it," he said with a sad smile.

"Umm, are you sure? I really didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I just-"

"I'm fine, really. Now go back inside or I'm telling Gryzmon," Gabumon insisted as he dragged me back inside the cave.

'Well, I guess I'll just take his word for it,' I thought as I lay down. 'I guess I'll say sorry to Gryzmon during dinner. I don't think he'll be fishing today since we already have enough from yesterday's catch.'

* * *

That night, the cave was more silent than usual. All we could hear were the crackling of embers and the sound of us chewing on food. None of us spoke to each other or even looked at each other. The aftermath from yesterday night was still lingering in the atmosphere.

Finally, I put down the half-eaten fish and mustered up the courage to speak.

"Gryzmon, I, umm, I'm sorry. I don't know why I wanted to know about your private life and I'm sorry if I offended you. I won't ask again."

Gryzmon didn't reply, but kept chewing slowly as though he hadn't heard me. I sighed inwardly, thinking that I had done some irreparable damage.

Everyone decided to turn in early for the night. Gryzmon retired to the deeper part of the cave while Gabumon extinguished the fire. I lay in the darkness, brooding over how stupid I had been to hurt Gryzmon's feelings in the most inconsiderate way. An indeterminate amount of time had passed and I could soon hear Gabumon snoring softly. I had been shifting my head back and forth, trying to sleep, but sleep evaded me.

Suddenly, I felt a presence above me and jumped when I heard my name called out quietly.

"Gryzmon?" I asked out loud.

"Shh! Follow me," the bear Digimon whispered and walked on all fours towards the cave entrance. I followed him, treading carefully to avoid tripping over anything in the darkness and soon, we were walking on a familiar path to the nearby pond. When we had reached our destination, he sat down against a tree and motioned for me to sit beside him. We gazed at the pond for a while under the dimly lit moonlight. Looking at the sky, I noticed that only half of the moon could be seen.

After a while, Gryzmon began to speak.

"Long before the infection and distortions happened, I used to be a Peacekeeper in Central City. I was a combat medic, responsible for taking care of injured comrades on the field. Originally, I had joined with the intention of becoming a Tanker, those who fought on the frontlines, but the Peacekeeper Overseers saw that I had a knack for remembering small details and a talent for taking care of delicate work, so they assigned me to be a combat medic. During my service as a combat medic, I had frequent correspondence with Wisemon and Sorcerymon because the Research Facility provided the Peacekeepers with equipment and medical supplies. I became close friends with them and learned much from their extensive medical knowledge. Those were quite the peaceful times back then. It was so peaceful that even the Tankers were assigned patrol duties since there wasn't any need for dispatch missions. They weren't too pleased with that."

Gryzmon chuckled slightly, remembering fond memories. Then, he sighed as he continued his story in a darker tone.

"That peace crumbled down in just one day when the Muchomon alerted us of the strange noises he heard. I had wanted to go investigate with the others, but I had too much assigned work to manage. Not long after the team was dispatched with the Muchomon, an emergency transmission came from the dispatch team, alerting us of hostile Digimon. The headquarters immediately sent another team to support the dispatch team while alerting the whole city and setting up defenses to fend off the enemies. Both dispatch teams returned to headquarters moments later with bad news. Well, you know what happened after that."

Gryzmon let out a deep breath as he closed his eyes. I remained silent and motionless, unsure if I should try to comfort him or not. He slowly opened his eyes and resumed speaking.

"It was chaos. Although there were only a few infected Digimon, they were terrifyingly fast and strong. Peacekeepers and civilians were being killed and injured left and right. The medical facilities were being filled up with patients by the hour. We've never had so many casualties in just a matter of moments. Every doctor and scientists were running about, trying desperately to cure the patients. I was among them, going frantic as I witnessed the injured dying right before my eyes."

Gryzmon bared his teeth in anguish as he spoke.

"I-I was utterly helpless…I-I couldn't do anything to help! My comrades died on the battlefield while I still lived, unable to do anything about this mess! I was completely useless!"

Gryzmon's voice grew as he stammered. His body was shaking and he had covered his face with his paw. Tears were slowly running down his cheeks. I remained motionless, still unsure of how to respond. Then, I slowly reached out and put my hand on his shoulder. He continued to shake and cry silently.

'Gryzmon…' I thought as I gently squeezed Gryzmon's shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.

After a while, Gryzmon calmed down and pulled himself together as he continued where he left off.

"A few days after that chaos, I resigned, thinking I was unqualified to be a combat medic when I couldn't save the life of even one Digimon. Many tried to reason with me and persuade me to think it over. However, I didn't listen and decided to leave the city to be alone for a while. Only Sorcerymon and Wisemon truly understood what I was going through. They helped me out by providing me necessities to survive in the forest and visited me as much as they could to keep me company and keep me up to date about what was going on in the city. It's only been a couple of months since I've been out here, but it seems like a much longer period of time have passed."

Gryzmon stopped speaking and gazed upwards at the sky. We remained silent for a while as we both gazed at the dimly lit moon. As I gently removed my hand from his shoulder, I said softly, "For what it's worth, it's not your fault and you know it."

Gryzmon remained silent as he lowered his head to look at the pond.

"I may be insensitive by saying this because I haven't had similar experiences, but I think you should go back. From the sound of it, you're needed there," I continued slowly.

"What could I do? If doctors and scientists can't find the cure for the infection, what could I possibly do?" Gryzmon growled in a low voice.

"I don't know," I said, trying to remain calm. "But maybe you could find out if you return. Besides, don't you want to visit Wisemon and Sorcerymon? You owe it to them."

Gryzmon didn't reply, but slowly got on all fours and said, "We should get some sleep."

As I stood up, I asked, "Gryzmon, why did you decide to tell me? And why did we have to be alone?"

"I don't know," Grzymon said gruffly after a while. "I just wanted to. And I didn't want Gabumon to listen to the same story twice. Once is bad enough."

He started walking slowly as I followed behind him.

"How's your body?" Gryzmon asked as we made our way to the cave.

"Oh, now that you mention it, I don't feel any pain anymore. It doesn't hurt at all when I walk. I guess I must've gotten so used to it that I didn't notice the pain was gone," I said, reaching behind to feel my back.

"That's not surprising. Any medicine that Wisemon concocts has superior effects. Of course your body should feel fine," Gryzmon commented as we approached the cave entrance.

"Gryzmon, don't underestimate your own abilities," I said, slightly annoyed at his unwillingness to take any credit. "If it wasn't for you, I'd be dead."

Gryzmon simply replied by saying good night as he retired to his private space. I crawled back to my spot beside Gabumon who was sleeping peacefully. For the first time in over two weeks, I lay on my back. I sighed in relief. Sleeping on my belly had not been a comfortable experience. As I thought about Gryzmon's story, I vaguely wondered what Gabumon had gone through before we met as I slowly fell into unconsciousness.


	6. Chapter 6: The Journey Begins

**Author's Note:**

 **I did my best to upload this chapter as soon as possible to try and make up for the late update of the previous chapter. A bit of action in this chapter, but still a lot of dialogue. I'll try to add some more action in the next chapter. Thanks for reading!**

* * *

The next day, Gabumon and I made preparations to leave for Central City. Gryzmon had removed my bandages to see how much my wounds have healed and found that every part of my injured body had been completely restored. Although I was happy to be rid of the filthy bandages, I felt extremely naked with only my underwear. My clothes had been long disposed of ever since they had been completely torn apart by the bomb explosions and sharp leaves. I regretted allowing Gabumon to burn them up. Even rags were better than being naked.

"Gryzmon, don't you have a spare cloak or something? Anything that Wisemon gave you that I can use to cover my body?" I asked sitting down, trying to cover my body as much as possible with my arms while I watched the two Digimon pack necessary items for our journey.

"No, I don't have anything that you could use. Besides, does it even matter? I don't think anyone would care whether you wore clothing or not. Most Digimon don't even wear clothes," Gryzmon replied as he stuffed some medical supplies in a leather bag.

"You don't understand. It doesn't matter if no one cared whether I was naked or not. I care! I feel completely exposed right now! Do you know what that feels like?" I protested, feeling myself turn red by the moment.

"Tyson, you'll just have to travel like that until we get to Central City. I'm sure you can find clothes there. There isn't anything we can do about it now, so you'll just have to deal with it," Gabumon said as he neatly folded two huge leaves with berries on top into small separate bundles. As he carried the two bundles to put them in the bag, he suddenly burst out laughing and almost dropped the bundles. Gryzmon looked like he was trying hard not to laugh as well, but failed as he started to roar with laughter as well.

"W-what's so funny?" I asked in confusion as I watched the two Digimon continue to laugh while clutching their bellies.

"S-sorry, but it's just, well, how should I put it. It's you!" Gabumon gasped as he tried to calm himself down.

"Me? What about me? Wait, you guys…You guys lied to me! You're laughing because I'm practically naked, isn't that right?!" I asked indignantly as I glared at them.

"W-well, it's just that we were so used to seeing you wrapped up in bandages that it's just, umm, new to us to see your body without anything covering it," Gryzmon explained as he wiped a tear from his eye. Gabumon chuckled as he placed the two bundles in the leather bag. The two roared in laughter again when Gabumon commented on how I looked like Mummymon when I had been covered in bandages.

I continued to glare at them for a moment and then dropped my head with a miserable sigh.

"I wish I at least had a pair of pants or something. Anything to cover the lower half of my body. I guess I should be thankful that I still have my underwear on…" I mumbled gloomily.

"The lower half of your body? Why not the upper half?" Gabumon asked curiously as he and Gryzmon finished packing everything.

"Well…Umm…" I struggled to find a good explanation, wondering if Digimon could understand the feeling of exposure of one's sensitive body parts.

'Do Digimon even know what genitals are? Do they even have-wait, let's not think about that. I don't think I want my imagination to run wild in that area. Actually, how are Digi-eggs even created? I don't think Digimon-oh my gosh, stop thinking about it!'

I shook my head as I felt myself blushing again. Just why was I even thinking about that?

"Let's just say I feel safer if the lower half of my body was covered," I said with a sigh when the two Digimon looked at me with a strange expression.

"Why is that?" Gryzmon asked as he carried the leather bag over to me.

"Ah, well…Maybe I'll explain it in detail one day, but for now, just don't get too curious about it. It's not something Digimon would understand," I said as I scratched my head in embarrassment.

'At least, I don't think they would understand,' I thought as Gryzmon looked at me with an unsatisfied expression.

"So, are you finished packing?" I asked as I looked at the contents of the bag, trying to change the topic of conversation.

"Well, there wasn't much to pack. The bulk of it is just medical supplies," Gryzmon snorted.

"What's with the small packet of berries? I don't think we'd have to worry about food while traveling in the forest," I inquired as I picked up a bundle.

"Ah, well, I thought we'd get hungry while walking, so I figured I'd just pack us some snacks," Gabumon piped up, looking sheepish.

I raised an eyebrow at him as I returned the bundle into the bag. Gryzmon went into his private space and soon returned with a large staff in his paws.

"What's that for?" I asked as I pointed at the staff.

"It's just something that I've been making for a while now," Gryzmon said with a shrug and handed the staff to me.

"You made this? When?" I inquired as I weighed the staff in my hands. It wasn't heavy, but it was hefty enough to most likely be able to deal a heavy blow to opponents.

"I've been working on it ever since a few days after you arrived here. I figured you might need it. You know, since you didn't have a weapon, I thought you'd be better off with one, even if it is just a large stick," Gryzmon said as he looked sideways and rubbed his arm. He looked like he was embarrassed about the whole matter.

"Uh, thanks. I'm sure it'll come in handy," I said as I grinned, purposely leaving out the fact that I didn't know how to use any weapon.

"What? Nothing for me?" Gabumon asked Gryzmon in an accusing tone as he crossed his arms.

"Do you really need a weapon?" Gryzmon asked as he rolled his eyes.

"So what, you don't care about my safety? I'd be safer with a weapon too!" Gabumon retorted.

"Oh sure, you'd be really safe. You'd probably end up knocking both Tyson and yourself out instead of the enemy in front of you," Gryzmon replied sarcastically.

"What? I'm not that clumsy!" Gabumon said indignantly.

As the two Digimon squabbled, I stepped in between them to stop their arguing.

"Alright you two. I think it's time for us to go now. We don't want to travel when the sun's going down, do we?"

The two Digimon looked away with a harrumph as I hung the strap of the leather bag on my shoulder.

"We owe you a lot Gryzmon. I don't know if we'll be able to repay you at all," I said as we stood at the cave entrance.

"Heh, if I was still a Peacekeeper, I'd have you two work for me to repay your debt," Gryzmon said sarcastically with a grin.

"Huh? He knows?" Gabumon asked in surprise as he looked at me and then at Gryzmon.

"Oh, yeah. We forgot to tell you. Gryzmon told me yesterday night while you were sleeping," I said sheepishly.

"You're not upset over something trivial like that, are you?" Gryzmon asked mockingly as he petted Gabumon on the head.

"What? Of course not! And stop treating me like a child!" the smaller Digimon protested as he tried to move away Gryzmon's paw.

"But you are a child level Digimon," I said teasingly.

"That's-that's different!"

"Anyway," Gryzmon said loudly as he cleared his throat.

"Right. So, we'll be going now," I said as I started to slowly walk outside of the cave.

"Thanks for everything Gryzmon!" Gabumon said looking back at Gryzmon as he followed me.

"Stay safe! You know you have a place here if you want to visit," Gryzmon replied as he watched us leave.

I stopped after taking a couple of steps. Gabumon looked at me with a puzzled look as he stopped too. I turned around and walked towards Gryzmon who looked just as confused. Then, I threw my arms around the bear Digimon, catching him by surprise.

"Thanks. And seriously, it's not your fault," I whispered as I hugged him.

"Yeah, I know," Gryzmon replied softly as he lowered his upper body to hug back.

After separating ourselves, we waved goodbye and headed into the trees. Soon, Gryzmon's cave was out of our sight and we found ourselves searching for the river that Gryzmon told us about earlier that morning.

"You know, I'm not sure if I could find my way to Central City alone even with the map Gryzmon gave us," I said out loud looking at the map with a frown. The map wasn't badly drawn, but it was more of a sketch than a detailed map. It only showed the main route from Gryzmon's cave to Central City with a few important landmarks that would help us stick to the main route.

"Isn't it a good thing that you have me then," Gabumon said with a smile.

"Are you good at reading maps?" I inquired the Digimon.

"Umm, no," he admitted sheepishly.

"Huh? Then why did you say that?" I asked in a puzzled tone.

"Well, I meant to imply that if we did get lost, at least we wouldn't be alone," he replied.

"That's reassuring, but all the same, I'd rather not get lost," I said drily.

We continued to search for the river. The sun was at its peak, shining brightly down on the forest. For a while, we walked on in silence. The only sounds we could hear were the sound of our own footsteps and the sound of my staff thudding on the ground. Then, Gabumon spoke out loud.

"Hey, can you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Shh! Listen!"

As we listened in silence, I could vaguely make out the small sound of water flowing.

"Hey, that sounds like a river!" I said in excitement.

"I think we're getting close. Let's go!" Gabumon shouted as we rushed towards the source of the sound.

Soon, we were outside of the trees and found ourselves in a clearing with a wide river flowing gently.

"Alright! Now all we have to do is follow the river until we reach this huge boulder on the map," I said as I pointed at the spot on the map.

"That shouldn't take us the whole day, right?" Gabumon said as we walked down the riverside.

"That's what Gryzmon told us. If everything goes smoothly, we should be out of the forest by tomorrow," I said as I stuffed the map back into the bag.

We walked on, listening to the pleasant sound of the river flowing and enjoying the peaceful scenery around us. If one were to take a picture of this exact moment, it would look like we were just taking a stroll in a camping site. After a while, though, the silence was a bit too much for me, so I decided to break the monotony.

"Hey, Gabumon?"

"Hmm?"

"I was just wondering. Do Digimon recover from injuries quickly?"

"Eh? Quickly? What do you mean?"

"Well, your leg was bloodied up severely by the Mushmons, but not long after Gryzmon treated you, you were sparring with him without a problem. Normally, it would take humans a lot longer than a few days to recover from an injury as severe as that."

"Huh, well, if you compare us with humans, I guess you could say that. Actually, I thought it was weird that it took you that long to heal up completely."

"Hmm, so I guess I'm the odd one out," I commented as I put a finger to my chin, wondering why Digimon healed faster than humans.

"Why? Does that bother you?" the reptile Digimon asked as he looked at me.

"Not really. I'm just wondering why Digimon heal so quickly. I mean, animals in our world don't recover from injuries at significantly faster rate than humans. At least, not most of them."

"So, you're comparing us to animals now?" Gabumon asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Ah, no, no! That just slipped from my mind! Sorry, I guess I should've been more careful," I replied hastily while silently scolding myself for the slip up.

"Hehe, don't worry about it. I'm just teasing you," the Digimon replied with a chuckle.

Silence fell on us for a moment when another question came to my mind.

"Hey, what happens to Digimon when they die?"

"Well, normally, their data is reconfigured into Digi-eggs in the Village of Beginnings where they hatch after a while."

"Normally? You mean there are circumstances where they don't get reconfigured?"

"Yeah," Gabumon said grimly as he looked at the ground. "When Digimon are infected, their data becomes corrupted and disappear completely."

"Oh…Sorry, I didn't realize…" I said softly, realizing that I had made another faux pas.

"No, it's fine," Gabumon said as he shook his head. "I'm used to it by now. It's been a couple of months since the infection happened, so it's not a huge shock anymore."

We continued on in silence, each deep in our own thoughts.

'I did have the feeling that Digimon were reincarnated after they died, but I had no idea they could completely disappear under different circumstances. That really must be a shock. You expect to see someone dear to you come back to life only to find out they're gone forever. I mean, that's not a huge deal to humans since we don't expect people to come back to life, but reincarnation is a core foundation in the Digital World, isn't it? It's like their very foundation is breaking down.'

I glanced at Gabumon. He had a glum look on his face, although I knew he was trying hard not to show it. Clearly I needed to put some serious work on my insensitive side. If I kept making mistakes like that, I was bound to run into bigger trouble one day.

'At least that sort of clears out one mystery. If Digimon are reborn, they probably don't copulate. Does that mean inherently bad Digimon are reborn too? That could explain why there is conflict in the Digital World.'

We stopped after a while to take a break. After taking a drink from a thermos bottle, I passed it to Gabumon who had just sat down against a tree.

"It's really convenient that Gryzmon happened to have all the necessary items we needed," I commented as Gabumon took a drink.

"I guess we should thank Wisemon for that," Gabumon replied as he passed the bottle back to me.

"That's true. It was Wisemon who gave Gryzmon all that stuff. I don't think Gryzmon would ever have to worry about surviving in the woods. He has so many supplies to last him for months. Plus, he's a bear Digimon, so I doubt he'd have any trouble scavenging for whatever necessities," I said as I returned the bottle into the bag and sat beside Gabumon. I fished for the bundles of berries in the bag and offered one to Gabumon.

"Just because he's a bear Digimon doesn't mean he's a natural hunter or scavenger," Gabumon countered as he undid his bundle and popped a piece of berry in his mouth.

"Huh? Why not?" I asked as I chewed on a fruit.

"He grew up in the city. He's lived in the forest literally for only a couple of months."

"Really? I always thought he grew up in the woods and then moved to Central City judging from the way he fished and cooked."

"No, he learned how to do all that when he first came into the forest. The first few weeks were really hard for him. I thought he told you that?"

"He only told me that he used to be a Peacekeeper which is why he knows so much about the infection. He didn't tell me everything about himself. Apparently, he didn't want to tell me about it," I said crossly, thinking that Gryzmon didn't trust me enough.

"Oh, come on, don't be like that. You think he wanted to spend the whole night telling you his back story? The only reason I know about his past is because we had time to talk. And you call me childish," Gabumon chided me as he rolled his eyes and popped another piece of fruit into his mouth.

Although I knew he was right, that didn't stop me from feeling annoyed with Gryzmon. I really did feel like a child who felt left out.

"How about I ask some questions now?" Gabumon said, trying to divert my attention.

"Fine. Go ahead," I said with a sigh.

"Back when we first met, why did you help me?"

I looked at Gabumon, surprised by his question.

"Why? Well…" I hesitated, unsure of what to say. Why did I help him? I thought about it for a moment as I fiddled with a blade of grass. Gabumon was looking at me with steady eyes, waiting for my reply.

"Umm, I really don't know," I finally admitted. "I guess, I just saw you in trouble, so it seemed like the right thing to do at the time."

"The right thing to do…" Gabumon muttered as he looked at the ground. "Is that your motivation for everything?"

"My motivation? What do you mean?" I asked, having absolutely no idea where he was going with this.

"You said you helped me because that was the right thing to do. You're also trying to help save the Digital World because it's the right thing to do, isn't it? That's the reason why you're coming with me to Central City, right?"

"Well, yeah, I guess so. But why are you making it sound like that's a bad thing? Is there a problem with wanting to do the right thing?" I asked with a frown.

"Tyson, you're weak," Gabumon pointed flatly.

"Wow, thanks a lot Gabumon. That really helps my self-confidence," I said sarcastically, feeling vexed.

"Wait, just hear me out. Normally, when someone is weak and they know it, they're reluctant to do anything that would put their lives at risk. Am I wrong? Is that different with humans?"

"No, you're right. Humans are no exception."

"Well, I know I didn't say it in a nice way, but you know your own weakness, don't you? Why are you putting your life in danger when you could die at any moment? Are humans reborn just like us?"

Gabumon was staring at me intently. It seemed like this was a very important matter to him. My eyes met his as I responded calmly.

"When humans die, they don't come back to life, so why am I risking my life even though there's a high probability of me dying? Because I don't want to be a coward anymore."

"A coward?"

"Yeah. I don't want to turn my back on doing the right thing, no matter how hard it is or how dangerous it may be. I've been a coward my whole life and I didn't bother trying to change myself, but things changed when a certain man entered my life. Now, I want to stop being a coward, even if that means I could lose my life."

"Is that so…" Gabumon spoke softly as he turned his eyes to the river. I turned my gaze to the river as well, briefly remembering the first time I had met Flint in Limbo. It had not been a pleasant experience and training under him had given me nothing but pain and grief, but the one thing I was grateful for was a second chance to change myself.

"If it's okay with you, can I ask another question?" Gabumon spoke after a while.

"Yeah, sure."

"How did you **-*cough, cough*** "

Gabumon's question was cut short as he started coughing violently. However, as soon as he did, my nostrils were hit by a horrible stench and I immediately started coughing as well.

"Wh-What ***cough, cought*** is that ***cough, cough*** stench?!" I gasped, trying not to gag.

"I- ***cough, cough*** don't know!" Gabumon uttered as tears started to run down his eyes.

Suddenly, I realized that a thick, nasty, sewer-colored mist had been seeping from the forest and surrounded us before we knew it. The stench grew worse and what was more, our bellies were starting to churn, threatening to throw up the little amount of fruit we had just consumed. Then, we heard a maniacal laugh coming from the forest.

"Nyahahaha! How do you like my Hazard Breath?"

We were on our hands and knees, doing our best not to retch as tears flowed from our eyes and mucus ran out of our noses when a Digimon looking like an overgrown eggplant the color of a cherry tomato with spiky tentacles came hopping out of the forest.

"Shoot ***cough, cough***! It's Red- ***cough, cough*** Vegiemon!" Gabumon stammered as he wiped the tears and mucus from his face.

The mist covered our surroundings in no time and soon, we could barely see each other.

"Why is * **cough, cough** * he attacking * **cough, cough** * Aaaaggghhh!"

My question was cut short as a spiked tentacle flew from beyond the mist and struck me in the side. I was pinned against the tree, bleeding heavily as I threw up. The pain and nausea were too much for me to handle.

"Tyson * **cough, cough** *! Are you * **cough, cough** * alright?!"

Gabumon struggled to crawl over to me, but he let out a painful cry as another tentacle hit him in the face and sent him sprawling on the ground.

'We have to get out of here!' I thought desperately as I clutched my bleeding side and clamped my mouth with the other hand to keep myself from throwing up again.

Out of intuition, I dived sideways, trying to muffle the painful sounds that came out of my mouth as I landed and briefly heard a loud thud behind me. The spiked tentacle had made a huge dent in the tree I was pinned against just a moment ago. I yelped as another tentacle slammed to the ground beside me.

'He doesn't know our exact location! We have to escape now!'

I hobbled over to Gabumon, barely avoiding another hit from the tentacle and grabbed his hand. I forcefully dragged us to the direction of the river, hoping that the current would carry us away from the hostile Digimon.

"Tyson * **cough, cough** *! What are * **cough, cough** * you doing?!" Gabumon wheezed as he covered his bleeding cheek with one hand. We yelped as another swipe from RedVegiemon just missed us.

"The river * **cough, cough** *!" I shouted as we approached the river.

"But I * **cough, cough** * can't-!"

Gabumon's shout was cut short as I threw us into the river. The cold water was soon dyed red as we splashed into the flowing current and disappeared underwater for a moment. I quickly resurfaced, clenching my teeth as the pain in my side intensified and searched around frantically for Gabumon. Soon, his head resurfaced not far from me and he began flailing his arms about.

"Help * **cough, cough** *! I can't * **cough, cough** * swim!"

I quickly swam to him and supported his weight, doing my best to keep his bloodied face above the water. We were quickly moving away from RedVegiemon and his stench. Fortunately, the hostile Digimon didn't seem to have any interest in chasing us down, but was content in laughing his head off as he waved his tentacles menacingly at us.

'Ugh, I can't hold us both above water for long. My side is burning up. At least the stench is gone.'

We continued to drift down the current at a steady pace, the water around us turning red from our blood. We were lucky enough not to crash into huge rocks embedded in the river bed.

'Considering our circumstances, we're pretty lucky to be alive. If the river wasn't deep enough, we would've broken some bones when we dived in here. How long should we stay in the river? I don't think RedVegiemon is going to come after us, but I want to make sure we're safe. If we stay too long though, we're both going to bleed to death.'

I looked at Gabumon who had his eyes shut tight and was trembling severely as he made whimpering sounds. I decided to wait a little longer before wading to the shore and dragging us out of the water. I was on my hands and knees, coughing and wheezing from the pain as water and blood dripped from my body. Gabumon continued to shake on his hands and knees as he threw up. I rummaged inside the leather bag and found the medical supplies. Thankfully, the contents of the leather bag were dry, owing to the fact that the bag was specially treated to be resistant to water.

I singled out the gauze and ointment and limped to Gabumon who was still on his hands and knees. However, he moved his face away from me when I tried to apply the medication.

"I-I'm fine. I don't need any treatment," Gabumon said in a shaky voice as he began to stand up.

"Don't be stubborn. Your cheek is bleeding heavily," I said as I tried again to apply some ointment on his face.

"I said I'm fine!" Gabumon snapped as he glared at me fiercely. I looked at him in surprise as I slowly backed off.

"I just want to lie down," Gabumon said in a softer tone with an apologetic look.

With one hand clutching his cheek, he slowly hobbled to a nearby tree and lay down on his side. I continued to look at him in surprise as I pulled out a bottle of Wisemon's medicine.

'What was that about?' I thought as I drank from the bottle. I winced as I gingerly felt the holes made the spikes on my side. Blood was continuing to pour out, but the effusion had been slowed down.

'I guess it's my fault again, but it's not like we had a choice this time. It was sink or swim, literally.'

After applying some bandages on my bleeding side, I gathered some twigs and leaves from the forest and made a fire with some flint stones.

'Gryzmon's thought of everything. I never thought we'd need these since Gabumon can just breathe fire,' I thought as I put the stones back in the bag.

The sun was almost at the horizon, so I decided to try and catch some fish. I quickly whittled a long twig into a makeshift fishing rod and attached a length of plastic wire as the fishing line. Then, I whittled a small piece of twig and shaped it into somewhat of a hook and tied it to the end of the wire. Using a piece of fruit as bait, I began to fish.

'I wonder if Gryzmon can see the future or something. Every single item he packed us has been useful so far. Or maybe this is just common sense. Too bad I didn't pay much attention to the lecture Flint gave me on Survival 101. I'm starting to wish I had more practice with survival skills,' I thought as I waited for a fish to take the bait. I looked over at Gabumon. He hadn't moved from his spot since he lay down, so I assumed he was asleep. I sighed as I turned my eyes to the river again.

'I owe him another apology again. It feels like that's the only thing I'm doing lately. On the bright side, maybe this will help me be a bit more sensitive to other people. Maybe.,' I thought half-heartedly as I continued to wait.


	7. Chapter 7: Gabumon's Story

**Author's Note:**

 **So, in the previous chapter, I said I'd try to make this chapter a bit more exciting. However, I sort of flunked in that area. Sorry, I'll try and add some action in the next chapter. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Thank you for reading.**

* * *

By the time the sun went down and night came, I had managed to catch two fish and considered myself extremely lucky. I had not expected to catch anything and had almost given up, but when I had finally managed to catch one, I decided to keep waiting for just one more.

I carried the fish over to the fire and just before I started to remove the insides of the fish, a sudden thought came to me. Putting the fish down, I slowly tiptoed my way to Gabumon and took a look at his cheek. I winced and cursed out loud when I saw his horribly swollen face. Dried blood covered almost his entire right cheek and the wound was severely inflamed due to the absence of medical treatment.

I cursed again as I quickly went back to the leather bag and pulled out the medical kit.

'I'm such an idiot! How could I just let him sleep like that? I should've at least treated his wound right after he fell asleep! What the heck was I thinking?!' I cursed myself as I took out the ointment and gauze. I paused for a moment and then took out a bottle of Wisemon's medicine as well, thinking that the wound was bad enough to call for stronger medicine.

I went over to Gabumon and shook him by the shoulder. He began to stir and said something unintelligible as he groaned. I kept shaking him until he was fully awake. He slowly sat up and rubbed his left eye, looking at me groggily. I stopped him from touching his wounded cheek and held up Wisemon's medicine in front of him.

"You need to drink this," I told him.

"I'm fine. Just let me rest-"

"No, you need to drink this. Now," I said firmly as I cut him off.

"I said I'm fine. Just leave me-"

"Gabumon. Now!" I shouted angrily as I shoved the bottle in his hand.

Gabumon flinched in surprise and reluctantly obliged when he saw the angry look in my eyes. After he had taken the medicine, I took the bottle from him and began to apply the ointment and gauze on his injured cheek. This time Gabumon stayed silent and waited for me to finish the treatment.

"I caught some fish if you want dinner. You'll have to wait a while though. I haven't cleaned them out yet," I told him in a calmer voice as I put away the medical supplies. Without waiting for his reply, I went over to the fire and began to clean out the fish. After I had removed the entrails, I snapped some twigs and pierced the fish to cook them. As I waited for the fish to be roasted, I looked over at Gabumon. He was lying down again, facing away from me. I scowled at him and then let out a deep sigh as I twiddled my thumbs.

'I shouldn't have shouted at him. I don't even know why he's acting like that and I just made it worse. What is up with my luck today? We get attacked by a crazy, oversized, rotten eggplant that looks like a demon possessed it, then I almost drown Gabumon without even thinking about it and now, I just go and shout at him when I could've just explained why I was trying to get him drink the darn medicine. Do I ever do anything right without messing things up?'

I sighed again and groaned as I covered my face with my hands. If this was how the entire journey was going to be, I was not looking forward to it. I hugged my knees to my chest and laid my chin on top of my knees as I watched the fish gradually roast. Soon, the fish were smoking and I moved the fish away from the fire. Gabumon was still lying down, so I set one fish aside and started to eat the other.

My head was full of conflicting thoughts, trying to decide how I should make it up to Gabumon when I saw the Digimon get up and come to the fire. He sat down opposite of me and just gazed at the burning embers. I noticed that just above the gauze on his cheek, his right eye was swollen shut and silently cursed myself again for my lack of consideration. I offered the uneaten fish to him which he took as he mumbled a "thanks" and began to chew slowly.

When I had finished my portion, I decided to apologize and opened my mouth, but Gabumon spoke before I could.

"Tyson," Gabumon began with a sigh. "I'm sorry. I-I shouldn't have acted the way I did earlier today. I was just…I was really scared. I was so scared that I lost control of myself for a while. I'm really sorry."

I looked at him in surprise and shut my mouth, trying to come up with the appropriate words to respond to his apology.

"Uh, I…Gabumon, I…" I stammered, unable to get the right words out of my mouth. I shook my head and started again.

"Gabumon, I wanted to apologize. I was the one who dragged you into the river when you couldn't swim and I was the one who shouted at you without really trying to explain the seriousness of your condition. I'm sorry. I could've done better."

"Tyson, please. Don't apologize. None of what you said is a good excuse to apologize to me. You didn't know I couldn't swim and in that situation, that was the only way we could've escaped from RedVegiemon alive. And you shouted at me because you knew I wouldn't listen to you. I deserved that. I'm the one who should be truly sorry and I really am. I hope you'll forgive me," the Digimon said with a tremble in his voice. He had directed his gaze to the ground and his fish was left forgotten.

I walked over to Gabumon and sat down beside him as I gently laid a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm not angry at you. I'll admit that I was annoyed with you, but I was angry at myself for not thinking things through. You don't have to apologize," I told him in a reassuring tone.

"Don't you want to know why I'm so afraid of the water?" Gabumon asked as he looked at me.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I told you back at the cave, remember? I'm not going force you to tell me about yourself and your past," I reminded him.

He turned his eyes to the burning embers again and stayed silent for a while. Then, he began to speak.

"A long time ago in my village, when I was still a Tsunomon, my friends and I used to play near the river. Although we couldn't swim, we found it exciting to play near a dangerous spot. We would make bets to see who was brave enough to jump the nearest to the river."

"One day, we made one of our friends really mad by calling him a coward. Because of that, he made a jump too far and splashed right into the river. We were all panicking and didn't know what to do. He was crying out for help the whole time, but all we could do was watch helplessly as he was carried away. Suddenly, a Gabumon came running and jumped in to save him. Soon, both of them came out of the river safe and sound. The Gabumon was really angry with us and yelled at us for playing at a dangerous place. No one complained when he banned us from playing there again. However, that scene stuck in my mind and over time, I began to imagine what would've happened if it wasn't my friend that had almost drowned, but me. Pretty soon, I became terrified of water and never went near the river again, even after I evolved."

He paused for a moment, poking at the embers with a piece of twig. He continued with a bitter laugh.

"I feel really stupid. I became such a coward over something small like that and it wasn't even me that almost drowned in the first place! I feel absolutely pathetic."

He forcefully threw the twig in the fire and let out a heavy sigh as he hugged his knees and buried his face between his arms.

"I don't think you're a coward. I mean, you're risking your life right now aren't you? You left your village to find a human in order to save your world and now, you're basically half-way there, right?" I said as I tried to cheer him up.

Gabumon looked up and smirked.

"Heh, I didn't leave my village because I wanted to. Someone dragged me out of that place."

"Huh? What do you mean?" I asked in confusion.

Gabumon sighed again as he began to explain.

"Many years after that swimming accident happened, we were attacked by infected Digimon. A lot of the villagers were killed, but fortunately, none of the survivors were infected. I only managed to survive because I hid myself instead of trying to stop the infected Digimon with the other villagers."

He smiled with disdain as he said that and then continued.

"A few weeks after the attack, we heard news from the city council about finding a human to stop the infection. Not many of the villagers were interested in the proposition and I sure wasn't. There were still too many things to rebuild and fix in the village. However, one particular Garurumon decided that he would go and find a human. Everyone including myself told him it was a foolish idea, but he wouldn't listen. Then, to my great surprise, he asked me to come with him. I looked at him as though he were crazy and refused, but he kept pestering me to come with him. When I asked why he wanted to go, he replied by saying he wanted to do something about the infection in order to help Digimons everywhere."

"I still thought it was a foolish idea and over the next few days, I kept ignoring his pleas. In the end, he managed to win me over, partly because he annoyed me half to death and partly because I found out that he was the Gabumon who had saved my friend on that particular day. For some strange reason, I was drawn to him and figured that I would at least find out more about him on our journey. Although the villagers warned us not to go, they didn't keep us from leaving and bade us farewell."

Gabumon paused for a moment as he inhaled and exhaled deeply.

"It was a long journey. On some days, we would be pelted by heavy rain out in the open and on other days, the scorching sun would burn us. I regretted leaving the village and began to resent the fox Digimon for dragging me into the mess. Strangely enough, even though he was going through the same harsh experiences and knew that I hated him, he was always putting me first before himself. He never complained and always had a positive attitude. This made me wonder why and asked him about it one day. He said that when he was still a Gabumon, he used to be afraid of many things including swimming. His fear prevented him from helping other Digimon and he soon sunk into depression. One day, he passed by the river and saw that my friend was in trouble. He knew that if he didn't do something right then, he would regret it for his entire life. That thought somehow made him act and save my friend despite his fears. After that incident, he realized that he didn't have to let fear stop him from helping others and decided to leave the village not just for the sake of others, but for himself as well."

"I was still skeptical and asked why he wanted me to come along. He simply said that he believed this journey would help me overcome my own fears. Although I didn't agree with him, I kept it to myself for the rest of our journey. Along the way, we met other Digimons who were also looking for humans and decided to join them. Soon, we stopped at a small town and decided to ask around for clues on the whereabouts of the humans. We eventually ran into Wizarmon, who told us that we were most likely to find humans near the forest due to increasing activities of distortions in that area. He also told me in particular to find Sorcerymon in Central City although he didn't explain why. We left that place and began to travel across the desert to the forest."

"While we were crossing, we were suddenly attacked by two infected Anomalocarimons. Before we could act, the two of them dived underground and created a huge sand pit that quickly began to suck us in. I was the furthest away from the center of the pit, but I couldn't free myself. However, Garurumon, who was the closest to me, managed to free me with his mouth and flung me out of the pit."

He stopped again and began to tremble a bit. As he hugged his arms to keep himself from trembling too much, he resumed his story.

"He shouted at me to go on, but I told him that I couldn't, that I was too afraid to go on alone. However, he told me not to let my fear overcome me. And then, he vanished. He just vanished with the others underneath the sand. They just…They just disappeared without leaving a trace. I was all alone, unsure and afraid. I didn't know what to do."

By this time, the reptile Digimon was trembling greatly and was having a hard time keeping his composure. His memories seemed to plague him as he buried his face within his arms. I reached over to his other shoulder and held him tightly as he continued to tremble.

"Gabumon, it's alright. You don't have to tell me the rest," I told him quietly as I tried to comfort him.

He shook for a while longer, then slowly lifted his head and began to speak again.

"Although I felt like giving up, I somehow managed to find my way out of the desert and into the forest. I was a complete wreck, but luckily, I found a river and managed to refresh myself. I wandered about for a while, not knowing where I was going until I met a group of hostile Mushmons. I was easily outnumbered, so I ran from them and that's when I met you."

Gabumon looked at me with his normal eye. Although he wore a small smile, I knew it wasn't out of relief or happiness, but rather out of sadness for the sacrifices that were made.

I pulled him closer into a hug without saying a word. Soon, I could feel him tremble again and heard him sobbing. The feelings of anguish and pain that he had kept in the whole time were coming out all at once.

'I swear, if it's the last thing I do, I will save this world,' I thought fiercely as I held onto the crying Digimon. 'I won't let Gryzmon, Gabumon or anyone else be hurt again because of some stupid infection that my own kind has started. If I ever find the one who caused all this chaos, I am going to tear him apart!'

I held onto him for a long time until he stopped crying. As he sniffled, he slowly detached himself from me and wiped the tears from his eye.

"S-sorry a-about that," he stammered in embarrassment as he wiped the splotch of mucus that he unwittingly left on my chest.

"Don't worry about it," I said with a laugh as I rubbed his head. "You feeling better now?"

"Yeah, I am. Thanks," Gabumon replied with a happier smile. "I'm not much of a storyteller, but I think I answered most of your questions, right?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, you sure did. Thanks," I replied as I pulled out a piece of cloth from the bag and slowly wiped away the remaining mucus and tears from his face.

"You could've let me done that myself you know," Gabumon said as he rubbed his nose.

"Think of it as my way of repaying my debt to you when you fed me," I told him as I threw the dirty cloth into the fire.

We sat in silence for a while, listening to the crackling of the burning embers before I spoke again.

"So, umm, are you going to finish your dinner?"

Gabumon looked at the piece of fish that lay forgotten and had grown cold.

"Umm, I don't know if I want to eat this right now. Sorry," he mumbled as he looked at me guiltily.

"I was only joking Gabumon! Don't look so glum," I teased him.

After we had cleared away the remaining food, we decided not to stay up and take turns on watch because it was impractical with only two people. I turned out the fire and lay down beside Gabumon who was on his back and looking up at the sky.

"Tyson?" Gabumon spoke softly.

"Hmm?"

"I just remembered. I was going to ask you a question when RedVegiemon attacked us."

"Oh, yeah. What did you want to ask?"

"How did you come to our world?"

"Umm…Well, I was in a park, just sitting on a bench when I saw something weird."

"Something weird?"

"Yeah. There was something weird in a bed of flowers. I went over to see what it was and it looked like one of the flowers was pixelated."

"Pixelated? What does that mean?"

"Well, I guess you could say that it sort of looked like it was turning into pieces of data. Except the flower didn't disappear. So, out of curiosity, I reached out to touch it and before I knew, I found myself in this world."

"That doesn't sound compelling."

"I know, right? But that's what really happened."

"So then, does that mean there are distortions in your world too?"

"Actually, I don't know," I replied with a frown. "That was the first time I've seen something like that."

'Although I only did spend a couple of hours in Japan,' I thought. 'But surely if there had been more distortions, people would've acted more cautiously, wouldn't they? It didn't seem like there was anything weird going on. Now that I think about it, if the infection and distortions were started by a human in the Real World, shouldn't the Real World be affected as well?'

As my head began to pile up with more questions, Gabumon yawned and muttered good night.

"Hey Gabumon?" I spoke before he fell asleep.

"Yeah?" he answered sleepily.

"You're not a coward. No matter what you think of yourself, you're not a coward, alright?"

"Alright…Thanks Tyson."

"Good night."

"Good night."

Silence fell upon us once more. I continued to gaze at the black sky until Gabumon began to snore softly. I closed my eyes and soon fell asleep.


End file.
